Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky has publicly apologized after ordering one of his aides to rape a pregnant journalist.
Zhirinovsky said he had "spoken out of turn" when addressing the female reporter at a press conference on Friday, and claimed he did not know that she was pregnant when he began his tirade.
"I apologize to her and to everyone in general that I may have offended," Zhirinovsky said on Vladimir Solovyov's Sunday evening talk show on the Rossia-1 channel.
Zhirinovsky was widely criticized after verbally assaulting reporters in the Duma press pool on Friday, after one of them asked about the travel restrictions imposed by Ukraine on Russian men aged between 16 to 60.
Shortly thereafter, the Duma press pool sent a letter to speaker Sergei Naryshkin demanding that the body's ethics committee investigate the lewd LDPR deputy's behavior.
Naryshkin responded by condemning Zhirinovsky's outburst, apologizing on his behalf, and suggesting that the committee would request an explanation for his actions.
In light of Zhirinovsky's recent outburst, the Duma's Rules Committee voted Monday to remove an exhibition, commemorating the LDPR leader's birthday, which had been on display in the Duma's second-floor lobby, Interfax reported.
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