The Night Wolves, a Russian motorcycle club that planned to travel to Berlin to mark the 70th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazism during World War II, were banned from entering Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic earlier this week.
However, despite the Polish authorities’ ban, the Night Wolves said in their blog on Thursday that a group of bikers had successfully crossed the border into the European Union.
“A group of motorcyclists from [the Belarusian city of] Brest that was going to join the rally [has been denied entry too]. They have no connection to the Night Wolves, but they had been turned back and their visas had been canceled,” Alexander Zaldostanov told Russian online newspaper Lenta.ru in an interview.
Katyn Rally Commander Wiktor Wegrzyn told Sputnik that Polish bikers would ride the Russian bikers’ route through the country and would visit cemeteries and memorials along the way.
“A period has not been put yet, but whether we reach the place we are going to, is not so important. I believe that we have achieved the main purpose. We reminded the people about the heroic deeds [of the Soviet soldiers],” Zaldostanov said.
Alexander Zaldostanov said that the victory over Nazism unites people living in the countries of the former Soviet Union.
He also commented on the decision of several Western leaders not to attend the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow on May 9.
“This is the last thing I think about because it is our Victory Day. Another thing is more important – I see that young people are greeting us with banners ‘Night Wolves! Our sympathies are with you!’ I see 30 thousand bikers in Europe who supported us and showed their solidarity.”
The leader of the Night Wolves denied claims that he had become a “Kremlin advocate,” saying “I know that this label is attached to me. I am nobody’s advocate. I only say what I had understood and what I myself had witnessed.”
