The well-known politician assaulted a man with a Ukrainian passport; his party's press service insists it was the Ukrainian citizen who provoked the conflict

Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the leader of Russia's Liberal Democratic Party clashed with one of the activists during the rally at Pushkinskaya Square in Moscow; thousands of protesters stood against the pension reform, Interfax-Ukraine news agency said.

Several videos appeared on the Web, showing Zhirinovsky who joined the rally in the downtown Moscow. One can hear people insulting him, he responds, and it turns into a fight. One of the videos shows Zhirinovsky standing by the man who lies on the ground, demanding to give him his passport, threatening him', the message said.

'I'm about to punch you in the head, and you're going to bleed!', he shouted and punched the man in the face.

Later, the Liberal Democratic Party's press service insists it was the Ukrainian citizen who provoked the conflict. 'Many people saw the Ukrainian passport sticking out of his pocket. It seems they've come too far in Kyiv: at first, they robbed and destroyed their own country and now they send their agents to rallies on Moscow', the statement said.

Zhirinovsky himself denied any involvement in the fight. 'There was no fight; what kind of fight are you talking about? There was a huge crowd of people, we were just passing by, trying not to hurt anyone (...) so anyone could have tripped over and fallen down; it just happens when there's a lot of people', he said.