Nationalist Vladimir Zhironovsky launched his extraordinary tirade after reporter Stella Dubovitskaya asked him an innocuous question about sanctions against Ukraine.
The founder of the far right Liberal Democratic Party began shouting wildly, before suddenly manhandling two young male aides towards the pregnant mother-of-one.
He then shouted to them: 'When I say, you run to her and violently rape her.'
The parliamentary reporter, who is six months pregnant, is now being treated in hospital for shock following the ordeal. Her employers, Russia Today, are also considering legal action against the man. The agency's general director Margareta Simonyan said: '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.'
Zhirinovsky has now issued a bizarre and rambling apology for his deeply offensive words - and also offered to help the woman journalist with her medical expenses.
Tensions in Ukraine continue to escalate - as today the country's police and intelligence service accused Russia of staging a fatal shooting incident which left three dead in the east of the country.
CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden's lawyer Anatoliy Kucherena is thought to be taking her case. He said she was in the sixth month of her pregnancy and had been treated for shock in hospital as a result of the abuse.
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