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6/20/2025, 4:15:17 PM
Moscow Conservatory Pianist Forcibly Drafted After Metro Detention, Family Says
A 21-year-old piano student at the prestigious Moscow Conservatory has been forcibly inducted into the Russian army after being detained in the metro, his family says, in a case that appears to violate his legal rights to a deferment on multiple grounds.
Yevgeny Klyuchnikov, a second-year student, was stopped by police at Moscow's Okhotny Ryad metro station on June 18 and taken first to a police station, then to a military draft point on Ugreshskaya Street. He was issued a summons and sent home.
According to his family, Klyuchnikov is legally exempt from conscription. He holds a deferment for being a full-time student at a state-accredited university. Additionally, last fall, a military medical commission assigned him fitness category "G" — "temporarily unfit" for service — due to health issues.
When Klyuchnikov returned to the military commissariat the next day with his documents, his sister said he was pressured to sign a draft notice and was denied contact with his family.
"Because of this, he has already missed an important rehearsal," she said. "He has the right to a deferment... He has medical conditions for which he was assigned fitness category 'G'."
The family alleges that military officials broke protocol by confiscating the original summons and isolating Klyuchnikov. After a period of silence, he managed to reach his family.
"My mom just told me that he was taken to Naro-Fominsk," his sister reported. "He called from someone else's number and said that he is in Naro-Fominsk, in the 100th unit."
His family has appealed to various state authorities for help. The incident reflects a growing pattern of "draft raids" in Russia's major cities, where men of military age are often detained in public spaces and swiftly conscripted, sometimes without regard for their legal status.
A 21-year-old piano student at the prestigious Moscow Conservatory has been forcibly inducted into the Russian army after being detained in the metro, his family says, in a case that appears to violate his legal rights to a deferment on multiple grounds.
Yevgeny Klyuchnikov, a second-year student, was stopped by police at Moscow's Okhotny Ryad metro station on June 18 and taken first to a police station, then to a military draft point on Ugreshskaya Street. He was issued a summons and sent home.
According to his family, Klyuchnikov is legally exempt from conscription. He holds a deferment for being a full-time student at a state-accredited university. Additionally, last fall, a military medical commission assigned him fitness category "G" — "temporarily unfit" for service — due to health issues.
When Klyuchnikov returned to the military commissariat the next day with his documents, his sister said he was pressured to sign a draft notice and was denied contact with his family.
"Because of this, he has already missed an important rehearsal," she said. "He has the right to a deferment... He has medical conditions for which he was assigned fitness category 'G'."
The family alleges that military officials broke protocol by confiscating the original summons and isolating Klyuchnikov. After a period of silence, he managed to reach his family.
"My mom just told me that he was taken to Naro-Fominsk," his sister reported. "He called from someone else's number and said that he is in Naro-Fominsk, in the 100th unit."
His family has appealed to various state authorities for help. The incident reflects a growing pattern of "draft raids" in Russia's major cities, where men of military age are often detained in public spaces and swiftly conscripted, sometimes without regard for their legal status.
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