A RUSSIAN hockey star who played in the Olympics and had just planned a big money transfer to a US team has been snatched in the street and accused of being a “draft dodger”.
Ivan Fedotov, 25, was rushed to an army service after being dramatically detained by a team of uniformed and plainclothes police officers in St. Petersburg.
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And horribly, he was later taken away by an ambulance from the recruiting office.
Vladimir Putin’s police have accused him of evading military service – and the move is seen as revenge for signing to play in the US for the Philadelphia Flyers.
Top keeper Fedotov was previously with CSKA – a club with close ties to military Russia.
Fontanka news outlet reported that he could now be sent to the Russian military instead of the US.
He could fight in Putin’s brutal war in Ukraine, but he could also end up in jail if Vlad cracks down on any dissenters.
“He was just arrested ‘for evading the army,'” reported Russian journalist Dmitry Navosha
Fedotov – 6ft 7 inches tall – “didn’t know” [the USSR] is back”.
The player – the best goalkeeper in the Kontinental Hockey League [KHL] including Russia and China – made his intentions to play in the NHL public.
And he was selected to represent Russia in China at the 2022 Winter Olympics early this year.
The brutal operation appears to be a deliberate attempt to get him to leave for the US and keep him in Russia.
Video shows the moment he was held in an ice arena in St Petersburg, Putin’s home city.
He was at the recruiting office late at night before being taken to hospital by ambulance.
One woman who tried to get into the ambulance but was pushed back was reportedly his mother.
Fedotov’s whereabouts are currently unknown.
The man in charge of Russian ice hockey is Roman Rotenberg, son of Putin’s close friend, oligarch Boris Rotenberg. Both men have been sanctioned by the US for their ties to Putin, as has Roman’s uncle Arkady Rotenberg.
A source told Fontanka that the military prosecutor’s office believed that “there are sufficient reasons to consider Fedotov an army evader”.
Despite being born in Finland and raised in Russia, the fact that he played for CSKA meant that he was considered a soldier, a report said.
Nothing prevents shipping even tomorrow […] Fedotov to the army.
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Technically, all Russian men up to the age of 28 can be drafted, although few sons of the elite serve in the military and even fewer have been sent to fight in Ukraine.
Fedotov is the goalkeeper of the Russian national team.
If he refuses to serve, he can go to jail.
A source told Fontanka: “Nothing prevents even tomorrow from sending hockey player Fedotov to the army.”
As a conscript, he – in theory – should not be sent to fight in what Putin calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Still, there are records of conscripts – as young as 18 – being ordered to fight.
Among those conscripted into the war, there were dozens and perhaps hundreds aboard the Moskva cruiser that sank in the Black Sea in April.
Putin’s brutal war in Ukraine continues and the Russians have lost as many as 50,000 soldiers.
However, Kremlin forces are now advancing in eastern Ukraine, more than 120 days into the conflict.
Vlad had hoped to score a lightning victory when he first stormed across the country to capture Kiev.
Ukrainians instead put up a valiant resistance against a much bigger enemy – pushed back Putin and inflicted heavy casualties.
Russia has resorted to brutal tactics, including killing civilians – just this week bombing a crowded shopping center.
Western countries have united against Russia and provided arms to help Ukraine.
But fears persist that the conflict could spiral out of control and turn into a wider war as NATO takes a tougher stance on Russia.