Vladimir Putin rides with Alexander Zaldostanov, leader of Nochniye Volki (the Night Wolves) biker group(REUTERS/Ivan Sekretarev)
The Guardian: Putin’s Angels: the bikers battling for Russia in Ukraine
They were anarchic petrolheads and now they’re the Russian president’s henchmen: meet the Night Wolves, Moscow’s most infamous motorcycle gang.
A rumble of artillery prompts the biker gang to pause inside their stronghold. It has been some time since the rebel-held city of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, on the war-torn fringes of Europe, has witnessed any frontline action. An explosion sends pulses racing. “Finally,” grins one of the men. “We’re going to fight.”
But, with a large gathering fast approaching, the bikers soon put themselves back to work. After all, their stage is not going to build itself. Their magical oak tree stands unfinished; a phoenix costume needs its full, resplendent plumage.
Such are the confounding contrasts among the Luhansk chapter of the Night Wolves, Russia’s largest and most infamous motorcycle club. The men now busily constructing a winter wonderland for the children of this battle-scarred city are the same bearded, tattooed bikers who inject extreme, flag-waving nationalism into motorcycle rallies, who fight alongside Russian-backed, separatist militias, and deride the “Satanism” of the west.
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WNU Editor: The Night Wolves started in the early 1990s .... long before Putin came on the scene. I am not surprised that Russian President Putin has embraced them .... the dream of a lot of Russian men is to own a motorcycle and to be immersed in that sub-culture .... they are also a large voting bloc .... a fact that Putin is well aware of. On a personal note .... I gave up on my bike a long time ago.
1 comment:
Groaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan.....
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