Earlier today, President Vladimir Putin placed a medal around the neck of veteran politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky: the flamboyant and outspoken statesman who leads the nominally opposition Liberal Democratic Party of Russia. After receiving the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland," Zhirinovsky shook the president’s hand and stood at his side for a moment with his trademark grimace, before leaning in to ask Putin if he could say a few words.
