Hunting for "night wolves"

The leader of the group, Alexander Zaldostanov, called opponents of the Moscow-Berrin motorbike "descendants of the policemen"

In Poland, mass protests are being prepared against the Moscow -Berlin motorcycle racing , planned at the end of April by members of several Russian biker clubs, including Night Wolves, whose leader Alexander Zaldostanov is known for his friendship with Vladimir Putin. The organizers of the run say that they are ready to repulse the “hooligans”, their Polish opponents expect that, thanks to the intervention of the authorities, bikers will not be allowed into the country, but otherwise they themselves are ready to block their way. Zaldostanov himself, in a statement on this subject, suggested that opponents of the run are the Poles whose ancestors "were policemen and warders in the Jewish ghetto."

The news that Russian bikers intend to drive around Europe from Moscow to Berlin appeared on one of the websites of the Night Wolves on March 23. The first country of the European Union on the path of bikers should be Poland. Here, Russians drew attention to the plans of the Russians only at the beginning of this week, but even in such a short time the intention to participate in protests against the motorcycle was expressed by almost 5,000 people - this is how many participants have a page of the event under the name "There are no bandits from Russia through Poland."

Two years ago, the same motorized country Moscow -Berlin has passed without serious incidents, but since then much has changed: “Night Wolves” supported the annexation of Crimea, arranged a motorbike to the east of Ukraine, the Lugansk, the leader of the club, Alexander Zaldostanov, became one of the organizers of the Antimaydan movement and was proud of his personal friendship with Vladimir Putin. Last year-perhaps because of the political situation-the mileage of Moscow-Berlin replaced the bikers on the eve of Victory Day with a trip to Italy. This time it was decided to go without regard to possible difficulties, since we are talking about an important anniversary-the 70th anniversary of Victory. However, according to Andrei Bobrovsky , one of the organizers of the new run to Berlin, not only the "night wolves" will participate in it, but also representatives of other motorcycle clubs from Russia and the CIS countries. According to Bobrovsky, bikers respect “local customs and traditions”, but if necessary, they are ready to repulse the “hooligans”:

The leader of the group, Alexander Zaldostanov, called opponents of the Moscow-Berrin motorbike "descendants of the policemen"

-The motorized run to Berlin is dedicated to the 70th anniversary of Victory. The purpose of this run is to get to Berlin, visit memorials, burials of Soviet and not only warriors, pay tribute to memory.

- When will it be? How long should the mileage take, through which cities and countries you plan to drive?

-From the 25th [April] to May 9. Through which countries? This is, respectively, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Germany. Cities - Moscow, Minsk, Brest, Wroclaw, Ostrava, Vienna, Munich, Prague and Berlin.

- That is, you will overeat all of Europe, will not go to Berlin along the shortest route, but will be, as they say, a tour?

- Yes, there are certain memorial places that we would like to visit - the Dahau memorial, Auschwitz. Memorials directly in Europe, in cities such as, for example, Ostrava.

- How many people will participate in this?

- There was no task to collect many people. We plan somewhere 30-40 people.

- The organization of this trip at what stage is it? Have you already received visas?

- Participants receive visas. Preparing slowly. We have such events every year. Just this year, in connection with the 70th anniversary of the victory, some kind of excitement.

- Have you also traveled along this way last year?

- In the year before last they went to Berlin. Last year they went to the south to Italy.

- You say that you traveled to Berlin in the year before, it was before the start of Ukrainian events. Do you know that now a group on Facebook has been created in Poland, people who are preparing you are not preparing to meet the most, what is called, with a welcoming way?

- If hooligans meet us, respectively, we will communicate with them like a blasphemy ... as with hooligans. We do not violate the laws. We honor local customs and laws, so we do not allow any aggressive actions to anyone. We will have good intentions.

We honor local customs and laws, so we do not allow any aggressive actions to anyone. We will have good intentions

-You did not try to somehow make contact with these people, explain your intentions, try to make friends with them in advance, preventing any incidents?

- We are now considering this question. Just not so long ago this situation began. We will think how it is better to arrange this situation. Naturally, we do not want any conflicts. We do not have any extremist goals. Our goal is very simple, historical: to honor the memory of our ancestors and, accordingly, get to Berlin on the 9th.

- Your leader Alexander Zaldostanov, a “surgeon”, he is forbidden to enter the USA and Canada, but the European Union has not yet entered it to the sanctions list. Will he try to get with you to Poland and further to Germany or will remain in Moscow?

-Well, firstly, the information is somewhat clumsy. Not "night wolves" organize this event. This is the Motorism Federation. This is the first. The second - the club as such does not go. The community of Russian motorcyclists goes. People are completely different, from different clubs, even from different states. We and Kazakhstan are involved. Therefore, to say that this is some kind of planned action of the Night Wolves motor club or something else is wrong.

- That is, they make different clubs, and the "night wolves" - only one of the participants?

- Of course, we all communicate. Like all motorcyclists, we communicate-we are friends with someone, with someone. In this case, this is just an event not related to the club. The event is not related to some emphasizing political motives. It is aimed at developing the patriotic sensations of participants and visiting anniversary events.

- Will you go in this motorbike?

- Certainly.

- You are not afraid that you can simply not let you go on the border? Border guards may not even be allowed with a visa of people, they have such a right.

- We are considering this situation. I just don’t see any ... how are we different from other people? I think nothing.

On Friday evening, the leader of the "night wolves" commented around the motorized way. The Zaldostanov statement is published on the Antimaydan website:

"... We must understand that there were the Poles who fought, who reached the Red Army to Berlin. There were Poles who participated in the Warsaw-Coznesky operation who force the Viska. But there were also Poles who became policemen and warders in the Jewish ghettho. There were also such. Perhaps their descendants do not like the idea of our march. But we still do not like it or not. The hundred -dollar bill, therefore, will not refuse our plans, because, in the end, we have our own beliefs, we have our own values.

Yarek Podvorsky , a resident of the Polish Lublin, who created on Facebook a page of the event there is no passage of bandits from Russia through Poland, "was not a biker, but a former journalist. According to him, this can be said about most of the 4 thousand members of the group - they are not members of biker groups ( which are in Poland ), but ordinary motorcyclists and residents of Polish cities. All radical posts and threats are immediately removed from the group, only harmless collages remain, such as made by the fair - on it the eagle from the Polish coat of arms expel the wolf from the emblem of the Russian biker club. Pavorsky says that the Polish authorities and deputies of the parliament are already knowing about the plans of the Night Wolves. He is sure that the bikers from Russia will not be allowed into the country - the visas they already receive do not give an unconditional right to enter the Schengen zone and can be canceled on the border:

The leader of the group, Alexander Zaldostanov, called opponents of the Moscow-Berrin motorbike "descendants of the policemen"

- Why did you decide to protest against the motorized run of Russian bikers?

- The first reason is Russian aggression in Ukraine. The “night wolves” were the first to come to the Crimea and began to campaign there for Putin, they also arrived in Donbass and are now fighting, they have people who are fighting against the official Ukrainian authorities (about death under Lugansk, one of them, a certain Sergey Koptev, even reported Russian news agencies. - RS) . Secondly, "night wolves" are actually a criminal group, in Russia they are involved in the criminalism, do what is prohibited in all normal democratic countries.

- How exactly will you protest against this action?

-We think that the Polish authorities can do something to block the entry of this group into Poland. For Poles 50 years of Soviet occupation, this is a lot. There were many killed, a lot of exiled to Siberia. For us, their passage through the territory of Poland is absolutely unacceptable. We hope that they will ban the entrance to Poland. And if they are allowed, we will block roads, officially send statements to local authorities so that everything is done by law. Here it became known about this story only a week ago, but a huge number of media - television, radio, newspapers already paid attention to it. Polish deputies also know about this problem, one of them talked about this at a meeting of the parliament today. Let's see what the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior will now do.

For Poles 50 years of Soviet occupation, this is a lot. A lot of killed, many exiled to Siberia. For us, their passage through the territory of Poland is absolutely unacceptable

- The organizer of this motorcycle says that its participants have exclusively peaceful intentions. What are the reasons to be not to let them go?

- With peaceful intentions, they arrived in Poland and in 1939, September 17 (on this day, Soviet troops entered the territory of Poland . - RS) . And now where the "night wolves" appear, Russian aggression begins. We think that the Poland authorities have enough wisdom to just not let them go. “Wolves” are terrorists, they are fighting in the Donbass, Ukrainians do not need terrorists in their country, and the Poles also do not need terrorists or people who help them here. We hope that the Polish authorities will be on our side, and visas can be cancelled on the border and simply not let them go to Poland.

- And in Poland there are biker clubs that can repulse the "night wolves"?

- There are clubs and ordinary bikers that are not in clubs. Many people have already expressed their readiness to go out and block their way. On our page on Facebook, already 4 thousand participants signed up, I think that their number will grow and eventually be 10-15 thousand. This is enough to go out and block the passage to them, ”says Yarek Podvorsky .

"Night Wolves" - the first official biker club in Russia, it was founded even before the collapse of the USSR - in 1989. Despite the fact that the unofficial ideology of bikers forbids them to enter into close relations with the authorities, the "night wolves" often neglected this rule, for which they were criticized by other representatives of the biker movement. In 2011, in Novorossiysk, at the head of the Volkov columns on the three -wheeled Harley, Vladimir Putin drove, which Alexander Zaldostanov then gave a leather jacket with the club's emblem. In 2012, as a result of a shootout in Zelenograd , in which bikers from the "Night Wolves" and another club participated, "Three Roads", one person died and the three were injured. In December 2014, Zaldostanov and his club became the object of sanctions by the United States - along with representatives of the new authorities of Crimea and the leadership of the self -proclaimed "DPR" and "LPR".