Former MHL ice hockey player Nikolai Starchenko launched into a verbal tirade at a supposed member of the media, not knowing it was, in fact, the city's mayor in the Russian city of Novokuznetsk.

Starchenko, who has played two seasons in Russia's junior ice hockey league (MHL) for Kristall Berdsk, was spotted in a public park and engaged in a conversation with a masked man, who was accompanied by members of the media. Presumably thinking the masked questioner was just another journalist, Starchenko let fly with a rant at the gentleman, after it was suggested he should leave and head back home, rather than be out during the lockdown period.