‘Night Wolves’ bikers to cross Poland?
PR dla Zagranicy
John Beauchamp
16.04.2015 14:30
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‘Night Wolves’ bikers to cross Poland?
Much attention has been awarded to a planned rally through Poland by the Russian ‘Night Wolves’ biker club which is to end in Berlin on 9 May to commemorate the victorious march of the Red Army in 1945 and the end of World War II.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets the Night Wolves in Sevastopol in 2012. Photo: cc/kremlin.ru
As Elżbieta Krajewska reports, the ‘Night Wolves’ have close ties with the Russian President, with their leader, Alexander “The Surgeon” Zaldostanov a close ally of Vladimir Putin.
However, their rally has aroused strong feeling in Poland mainly because of the group’s active support of Russia’s annexation of the Crimea.
Polish officials, led by PM Ewa Kopacz, have been pouring oil on troubled water. PM Kopacz outright spoke of “provocation” which was echoed by Foreign Minister Schetyna.
Somewhat to the surprise of critics, support for the ‘Night Wolves’ rally has come from Polish bikers from the Katyń rally, which commemorates Polish officers shot by Soviet NKVD in World War II.
Head of the Polish biker club, Wiktor Węgrzyn, has asked for the Polish side to accept the riders “the same way that they were accepted in Russia”, with the club’s Jakub Michalski telling Polish Television “We were always warmly welcomed and they were always helpful. I remember many situations when - for instance - we had a bike broken down or needed parts, they always able to organise help”.