WATCH: Russian politician Mikhail Abdalkin, who lampooned Putin with 'noodle ears' stunt, fined

New Delhi: After posting a video of himself watching Vladimir Putin’s state-of-the-nation address with noodles hanging out of his ears, regional deputy Mikhail Abdalkin was found guilty of ‘discrediting the Russian armed forces,’ by a court in the city of Novokuybyshevsk in Russia’s Samara region.

According to TASS, the noodles in the video is a reference to a Russian idiom ‘to hang noodles on one’s ears.’ It is used to describe deception or when false information is being fed to the listener.

Mikhail Abdalkin, deputy of Samara council (Russia), listened to Putin’s address with noodles on his ears.

“Hang noodles on ears” – idiom meaning to mislead or fool a person. “Don’t hang noodles on my ears!” – means don’t fool me, don’t lie to me. pic.twitter.com/UfKyqN8gWs

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) February 23, 2023

The video was criticised by his fellow party members and several prominent Russian officials, but Abdalkin refused to plead guilty to the charges.

During the court proceeding, Abdalkin stated, “I believe there is nothing that discredits the armed forces.” His attorney declared that he would challenge the decision on the grounds that it was unconstitutional, reported TASS.

The city court on Wednesday ruled that Abdalkin must pay a fine of 150,000 rubles ($1,951).

This month, the Russian parliament strengthened laws that had been passed soon after the invasion and now impose fines or jail terms of up to 15 years for spreading false information about the armed forces or other parties involved in the conflict in Ukraine, such as the Wagner mercenary group. reported Reuters.

With inputs from agencies

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