An elderly Russian woman was fined 40,000 rubles ($490) for “discrediting” her country’s military by describing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “a handsome young man.”
Olga Slegina, 70, was sanctioned by a Moscow court on Tuesday after she made the glowing comment late last year.
According to the Russian human rights group Memorial Center, the senior was speaking with another woman at a medical center in the city of Nalchik when she made the comment about the “hot” 45-year-old president.
In addition to complimenting his appearance, Slegin said that Zelensky, who previously worked as a comedian, had a “good sense of humor.”
Three people subsequently reported the old woman to local authorities, and she was soon arrested for violating a draconian censorship law implemented by the Russian government in the midst of its ongoing war with Ukraine.
According to the court, Slegnia violated Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, according to which courts can impose heavy fines on “individuals and legal entities for ‘discrediting’ the Russian Armed Forces and their operations.”
The arresting officer reportedly told Slegnia that he had “no right” to praise Zelensky because he is “our enemy.”
Zelensky has become an unlikely sex symbol after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last spring.
Photos of the former actor, who has served as Ukraine’s president since 2019, went viral at the start of the war, showing him dressed in camouflage while working on the front lines with his country’s troops, as The Post previously reported.
On TikTok, a groupie said: “Y’all, I have one thing to say. President Zelensky — daddy. All these little kids in here like, ‘Call me daddy!’ Mmm no. Test it. President Zelensky? Dad.”
Meanwhile, a Czech designer decided to capitalize on the Zelensky craze and stamped the president’s handsome face on the pillows.
“Many people, mostly of the fairer sex, see him as some kind of sex symbol, so I had the idea to make a pillow that would look like he is on his bed,” designer Tomas Brinek told Reuters. Can.
The fluffy pillows became an instant hit, with a batch of 2,000 sold within days of orders being placed around the world.
Unfortunately for many fans around the world, the Ukrainian president is off the market.
Zelensky has been married to his wife, Olena, since 2003, and the couple have two children.
