Noodles and a fine in addition – Newspaper Kommersant No. 37 (7482) dated 03/03/2023

Mikhail Abdalkin, a deputy of the Samara Provincial Duma from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, who listened to the message of President Vladimir Putin to the Federal Assembly with noodles on his ears, faced the first serious consequences of his trick. On Thursday, the police filed an administrative protocol against a communist under an article about discrediting the Russian armed forces. Earlier, parliamentary colleagues called for Mr. Abdalkin to be expelled from the party, but the Communist Party of the Russian Federation has not yet decided how to respond to the scandal: senior comrades both condemn and defend the Samara deputy.

Mikhail Abdalkin announced the claims from the Ministry of Internal Affairs on March 2 on his page on VKontakte. “On Tuesday, a meeting of the Novokuibyshevsk city court will be held in the case of discrediting the army, which I allegedly committed by posting THE SAME VIDEO (author’s spelling.— “b”). We will fight, prove our innocence and innocence, ”the communist wrote.

Recall that we are talking about a video that Mr. Abdalkin posted in the same place on February 21, on the day of the announcement of the message of Vladimir Putin. In the 30-second video, the deputy sits at a computer desk and listens attentively to the president with noodles on his ears. The video is accompanied by a sarcastic comment: “Totally support, completely agree, great performance. I have not heard anything like this in the last 23 years. Pleasantly surprised”. Attention to the video, in particular, attracted State Duma deputy from United Russia Alexander Khinshtein.

What exactly the police saw as publicly discrediting the use of the RF Armed Forces in order to protect its interests (part 1 of article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, up to 50 thousand rubles fine), is still unknown. Mikhail Abdalkin was unable to disclose the contents of the protocol to Kommersant, citing being busy. The first secretary of the Samara regional committee of the Communist Party, Alexei Leskin, did not answer calls from Kommersant.

As follows from the published video, with noodles on his ears, the communist listened to a fragment of the message, during which Vladimir Putin speaks of “long centuries of colonialism, diktat, hegemony” by the United States and NATO, accustomed to “spitting on the whole world,” as well as “cynical deception” associated with “fables about the search for peace, about adherence to UN Security Council resolutions on Donbass.”

Earlier Mikhail Abdalkin already criticized by colleagues in the regional parliament. On February 28, the deputies approved the conclusion of the procedural committee, which recommended that the communist be given a “public censure” and that materials about his behavior be sent to law enforcement agencies and the prosecutor’s office. At the same time, the Samara regional committee was recommended to remove Mr. Abdalkin from his posts and expel him from the party. The parliamentarians voted unanimously for this decision, including the support of the Communist Party faction.

However, among the members of the federal leadership of the Communist Party there is still no unity in assessing the trick of Mikhail Abdalkin. For example, State Duma deputy Sergei Obukhov said the day before that the party would look into this situation without prompting from United Russia. “Committee for Regulations (of the Samara Provincial Duma.— “b”), consisting of the deputies of United Russia, can make any decisions regarding internal party life. We, too, can make a decision: “United Russia” to exclude objectionable governors. In this case, colleagues have confused the coast a little, ”he told NSN.

In turn, State Duma deputy Alexander Yushchenko said “RIA News”that the “extremely unethical” behavior of Mikhail Abdalkin does not correspond to the status of a deputy. According to him, if the leadership of the Samara regional committee does not take sanctions against the communist, then “the federal bodies (parties.— “b”) will think what to do.

We add that the opponents of the Communist Party demand the most severe punishment for Mr. Abdalkin. In particular, State Duma deputy from the Liberal Democratic Party Vladimir Koshelev addressed the head of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin, demanding that the communist be prosecuted for insulting a representative of the authorities (Article 319 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), and also called on the regional parliament to deprive him of his mandate for non-compliance with the law “On the Status deputy.”

The disposition of the article imputed to Mikhail Abdalkin allows the broadest possible interpretation of the concept of “discredit”, therefore it is possible that the security forces considered noodles on the ears to be a commonly used allegorical sign of false information, says lawyer Anastasia Burakova. “In the context of the message of the President, who is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, such an allegorical device discredits what was said in the broadcast,” the expert states.

Andrew Ashes