The legal process is related to fake military passports.
Mihail Vorobjov of St. Petersburg’s SKA is one of the accused Russian ice hockey players. Maksim Konstantinov/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
Three Russian hockey players, Mikhail Vorobyov, Vladislav Lukin and Anvar Suleimanovavoided the military after they were accused of buying fake military passports.
The legal process of Vorobyov, Lukin and Suleimanov started this week, news reports Aftonbladet. According to the Russian media, they face up to 12 years in prison.
The skein of Russian hockey players began to swell at the beginning of July, when the top goalie Ivan Fedotov was arrested in Russia.
– We’ll see how the situation progresses, comments the boss of St. Petersburg’s SKA Roman Rotenberg formerly for Championat.
Of the trio, only Vorobjov is a high-profile puck player. He is a striker for SKA St. Petersburg. Lukin played six KHL games last season. In the 2020–21 season, Suleimanov played in the Russian junior league, but never reached the professional level.
– Vorobyev is our player, and we support him in every way, Rotenberg said.
Earlier in the summer, there were also news about Kirill Kaprizov, the superstar of the New York Rangers. It was claimed that Kaprizov had also evaded the Russian army, but there has been no evidence of a forged military passport. Kaprizov was finally able to go to North America, although the first attempt failed when he was not allowed into the country.
All the five players mentioned above are united by the fact that they have played in Ufa. Sport-Express reported earlier that a businessman has been arrested in Ufa, who is suspected of passing military passports to ice hockey players.