Russian nationalist turns TV debate into brawl

Russia's humdrum presidential election briefly came to blows when nationalist candidate Vladimir Zhirinovsky attacked his opponent during a televised debate, a Russian newspaper reported.

Kommersant newspaper said the fight broke out during recording of a debate between Zhirinovsky and Nikolai Gots, a representative of Andrei Bogdanov, leader of the small Democratic Party who is also running in the vote.

Zhirinovsky, known for his extravagant rhetoric and emotional outbursts, lashed out when his opponent said his party was a Kremlin puppet, Kommersant said.

Zirinovsky's party refused to comment on the report.

The Zvezda television station, which was hosting the debate, also declined to comment. Footage of the incident has not been broadcast.

Opinion polls show Kremlin-endorsed Dmitry Medvedev will win the March 2 election by a huge margin, and he has declined to take part in debates with the other challengers, creating a campaign that has been short on excitement.

Kommersant said that Zhirinovsky verbally abused Gots and then became involved in a fist-fight with him.

"Zhirinovsky then ordered his bodyguards to take me away and shoot me down," Kommersant quoted Gots as saying. The bodyguards did not carry out the order, Gots said.

Zhirinovsky, a veteran of Russian politics, is well known for livening up television debates.

In 1995, he splashed orange juice on his liberal opponent Boris Nemtsov, publicly promised to beat up his nationalist opponent Andrei Savelyev in 2003 and engaged in a brawl with his opponents in another debate in the same year.

Since then a new rule has been introduced requiring that election debates are pre-recorded, and not broadcast live.

- Reuters