Russian media circulated a video clip where Zhirinovsky, who leads the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), insulted and pushed in the back Nikolai Gotsa, Bogdanov's campaign manager, who was representing his candidate during a televised debate with the LDPR leader.

In an interview with RIA Novosti Bogdanov said they will also send a letter to Boris Gryzlov, the speaker of the Russian parliament's lower house, demanding that Zhirinovsky be stripped of his diplomatic immunity.

Zhirinovsky denied hitting the campaign manager, saying it was Gotsa who first insulted him during the debate.

"The studio was small and had a narrow passage and after the debate I had to go, but he [Gotsa] remained sitting," he said. "I asked him to leave so that I could walk by. This is the whole incident. I never hit him."

Two other candidates for the March 2 presidential election are Kremlin front-runner Dmitry Medvedev and Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov.