Watch: Russian politician tells aide to rape pregnant journalist

This is the moment Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky is caught on camera telling an aide to rape a pregnant journalist.

The video, which can be viewed below, shows reporter Stella Dubovitskaya asking Zhirinovsky a question about sanctions against Ukraine during a press conference.

Apparently enraged by the question, Zhirinovsky begins shouting before pushing two male aides towards the pregnant mother-of-one.

He then shouts to them: “When I say, you run to her and violently rape her.”

A male journalist asks Zhirinovsky: “She is pregnant, why are you attacking her?”

The 67-year-old Zhirinovsky, leader of the populist nationalist party LDPR, then pushes two aides towards the journalist, who is six months pregnant, shouting: “Go and kiss her. Grab her.”

One approaches Dubovitskaya as several female reporters recoil. Another female reporter, Yulia Chuchalova from news agency Interfax, then says to Zhirinovsky: “This is derogatory, humiliating - what are you doing here?”

Zhirinovsky hits back: “What are you doing intervening here? Get out of here.” He also adds a homophobic remark.

The politician then shouts: “This is no place for you if you're pregnant. We need healthy people. Pregnant women should not show up at work. Sit at home and look after your child, got that?”

Zhironovsky is facing legal action from Dubovitskaya's employer, according to news agency Russia Today.

“Due to the disgusting incident in the state duma, after which our correspondent was hospitalised because of Vladimir Zhirinovsky's discourtesy, we have decided to use all legal options to punish Mr Zhirinovsky as severely as possible under the law, including by suing him,” said general director Margareta Simonyan.

Zhirinovsky apologised for the tirade on Russian state television on Sunday. He said: “I didn’t even see her at first. She is very young, and as it turned out, she is pregnant. I offer my apologies to her and to everybody whom I might have offended.”

Dubovitskaya had to be taken to the hospital for shock following the tirade, according to the Daily Mail.