By Tim Binnall
A magical moment wherein a Russian man proposed to his girlfriend at a Moscow subway station turned into a nightmare for the couple after authorities took issue with the romantic gesture and wound up arresting the duo. The strange case reportedly began on November 7th when the young man, named Evgeny, surprised his girlfriend with a 'dinner' of fruit and drinks served atop a card table at the VDNKh station in the country's capital city. The impromptu 'meal' culminated with him asking for her hand in marriage and, when she agreed, a small celebration erupted among commuters watching the unique scene unfold. Alas, Moscow police were less enamored with the display and, as a result, the couple soon found themselves in hot water with the law.
According to Evgeny, cops visited the couple's workplace the following day to question them about what had occurred at the subway station. "We said that there was no alcohol, everything happened normally and civilly," the young man recalled, indicating that the pair went so far as to write "explanatory notes" to presumably clear up any confusion about the public proposal. Nonetheless, the officers instructed the couple to come to the police station later that evening for further questioning. Perhaps thinking that the matter would blow over, the couple made the rather ill-advised decision to simply ignore the directive and, when they headed to work the next day, the pair were promptly arrested.
Arguing that the couple had caused a disturbance for commuters at the subway station, authorities proceeded to charge the couple with petty hooliganism. Since the proposal was Evgeny's doing, his new fiancée was seemingly given a proverbial slap on the wrist in the form of an $11 fine. Her future husband, however, was not so lucky as he actually spent five days in jail for the offense and, during that time, was kept in an "isolation ward." Despite his understandable misgivings about the unfortunate affair, Evgeny plans to take no further action regarding the situation and, as the very least, the couple now has a truly wild story to share at their wedding.