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The Night Wolves are a phenomenon… bigger than a motorcycle club, something that makes presidents come to us, and the Patriarch give us his blessing.
President, Night Wolves MC
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Windblown faces, the smell of leather and tobacco, and the screech of tyres are the trademarks of the Night Wolves, a motorcycle gang that dominates the streets of Moscow by night. Founded in May 1989, the Night Wolves… mostly heavily bearded beer-bellied men in blue jeans and leather vests… grew out of the anti-Soviet rock culture of the 1980s, a time when they regarded themselves as freedom fighters. For many years, the Night Wolves was the only motorcycle club in the country. Today, it’s Russia’s largest club, with more than 5,000 members. The Night Wolves’ manifesto rejects all laws and instead puts its trust in the power of the Brotherhood. The founders modelled the club on the Hell’s Angels. However, one of the major differences between the Night Wolves and their American brethren is that the club is ideologically close to the authorities and is close to President V V Putin. Putin first visited the Night Wolves at their centre in western Moscow in 2009… sceptics viewed it as just another of his macho media stunts. The images of Putin in a leather jacket surrounded by burly bikers made the rounds in the press several times. However, the president’s support for the club seems sincere. Last July, Putin even kept Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich waiting for four hours whilst he had met with Aleksandr “The Surgeon” Zaldostanov, the tattooed leader of the Night Wolves. Earlier this year, Putin awarded Zaldostanov the prestigious Order of Merit for his “active work in patriotic upbringing of the young”, and for helping search for the remains of missing World War II soldiers. In addition, Zaldostanov organised a biker festival in Volgograd as part of a wider ceremony commemorating the Nazi bombing of the city, then known as Stalingrad, on 23 August 1942.
For his part, Zaldostanov makes no secret of his warm relations with Putin and praises the president for his patriotic attempts to “return Russia’s greatness. I want us to remain a patriotic club, to be an example for the young, to do something for our Fatherland… which we basically lost by buying jeans and chewing gum, selling out for McDonald’s. The Night Wolves are a phenomenon… bigger than a motorcycle club, something that makes presidents come to us, and the Patriarch give us his blessing”. Last year, the Night Wolves supported the Orthodox Church during the Pussy Riot controversy. After the feminist group performed their “punk prayer” in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in February 2012, the club publicly expressed outrage and then promised to help guard Orthodox cathedrals from any further “hooliganism”. Not everyone finds the Night Wolves lifestyle congenial. Some of their nationalist statements, as well as their anti-feminist and anti-homosexual attitudes, put off middle-class men who can afford upmarket bikes. Even those who want to join the group aren’t immediately accepted. One club member known as Feliks says that a Wolf-to be needs to spend five years riding with the club and participating in its activities to become a member. The relationship between the Wolves and the Kremlin may also have become a problem for other biker clubs. Last year, the Wolves had a shootout with a rival gang, the Three Roads, which resulted in the death of a biker. Allegedly, the fight began over the Wolves’ support for the Kremlin. Later, Yevgeni Vorobyov, the leader of the Three Roads, said that his gang angered the Night Wolves by ending its alliance with them and instead establishing ties with an American motorcycle club, the Bandidos, which recently edged onto Russian soil, but keeps a low profile. He said, “We just didn’t like the public activity of the Wolves… all that official stuff. Our ideals are music, bikes, free time, and girls, after all. The Wolves have become too politicised”.
8 December 2013
Yaroslava Kiryukhina
Russia Behind the Headlines
http://rbth.ru/society/2013/12/08/night_wolves_russias_answer_to_hells_angels_32369.html
Voices from Russia 
Night Wolves MC Gives Show for Donbass Kids
Tags: Aleksandr Zaldostonov, children, civil unrest, Donbass, Motorcycle Club, motorcycle clubs, Night Wolves, Night Wolves MC, Novorossiya, Order of Honour, patriotic, patriotism, political commentary, politics, Russia, Russian, Ukraine, Ukrainian Civil War, war and conflict
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In Moscow, Night Wolves MC bikers gave a New Year show for children from the Donbass. The bikers invited more than 50 kids from Lugansk to see the show. A S Zaldostanov (nicknamed Khirug (the Surgeon)), the Night Wolves’ leader, is an Anti-Maidan movement activist. Zaldostanov received the Order of Honour in 2013 for his patriotic work with kids and his participation in searches for the bodies of those fallen in the VOV. He told TASS after the show that patriotic performances were as important for kids as fairy tales were, saying, “We must bring up children with a sense of patriotism. They must love their native land and be able to defend it in hard times”. In the performance, various characters united to defend the Motherland and forced the enemies out. The bikers in the show demonstrated their riding skills, exhibiting jumps and other stunts; the small spectators watched it with amazement and admiration. The bikers accompanied it all with pyrotechnics. Zaldostanov said that they’d give two more performances for Donbass kids on 23 and 24 January.
23 January 2015
ITAR-TASS
http://itar-tass.com/en/russia/772886
READ MORE:
Russian patriotic organisations and politicians set to establish Anti-Maidan movement
Editor:
The amoral Republican filth saw to it that the Surgeon was placed on the sanctions list. Fancy that… I don’t think that it’ll slow him down at all. Who do you want to stand with? Rush Limboob, Sarah Palin, and Ted Cruz… or the Surgeon? I stand with Aleksandr Sergeyevich… what about you?
BMD