Night Wolves motorbike gang denied entry to Poland

Seventy years on from the Soviet invasion of eastern Europe and capture of Nazi Berlin, Vladimir Putin's favourite nationalist Russian motorbike gang has been thwarted in its attempt to recreate the journey - by Polish border guards.

Warsaw has refused entry to the band of leather-clad Night Wolves planning to traverse eastern Europe on their way to the German capital, on a provocative journey that caused outrage across the region and sent politicians into a spin.

The Night Wolves are blacklisted by the US for taking part in the Russian annexation of Crimea and claims to have members in the ranks of rebel fighters in eastern Ukraine. The group's leader, Aleksandr "The Surgeon" Zaldostanov, is a close friend of President Vladimir Putin, who rode with them in a 2011 parade.

Poland, the first EU country on the Wolves' itinerary, had expressed its fury at the planned rally and spent the past week mulling how to handle the issue, amid petitions calling for the group to be banned.

As Mr Putin embraces a more conservative ideology during his third presidential term, social organisations such as the Night Wolves, which boasts 7,000 members and celebrates Russian culture and traditional values, are taking on a larger role on the political stage.

On Friday afternoon, Poland's foreign ministry informed Russia's embassy in Warsaw that the Wolves had been refused permission to enter Polish territory, citing a lack of information on their stay, the hotels they would be staying in and their route plans.

"In addition, the Russian side's notes about the ride came in too late at the Polish [ministry] . . . less than a week before the planned beginning of the tour," a ministry spokesman said in a statement. The ban would apply across the whole Schengen free-travel zone, a person with knowledge of the decision told the Financial Times.

The Wolves, whose uniform includes a military beret and leather waistcoat adorned with buckles and pro-Russian patches, were scheduled to depart from Moscow on Saturday and cross into Poland at Terespol on Monday.

The refusal is set to further strain tattered ties between Moscow and Warsaw, which have sunk to a historical nadir following the crisis in Ukraine.

Poland has been one of the EU's most hawkish states in calling for greater punishments against Russia for its perceived actions in the east of the country, and has led calls for Nato to ramp up its presence on Europe's eastern border.

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But in an interview in Moscow this week, Alexei Vaits, one of the Night Wolves' main leaders, dismissed Polish and German concerns about the demonstration.

"The rally doesn't have any element of revenge to it. It's not saying 'look we're the victors'. Indeed, we are calling it a rally for reconciliation, a rally for peace," he said. "We have a need to tell our German brothers - let's have peace. Let's all meet together and become good neighbours. Ukraine is our own internal affair."

According to the group's website, the riders planned to cruise from Moscow through Belarus, across into Poland, then visiting Bratislava, Vienna and Prague before arriving in Berlin on May 9, the 70th anniversary of the city's capitulation to Soviet troops.

Poland has denied that the decision was political, stressing that three other Russian motorbike rallies were permitted to enter the country recently, with all the correct documentation.

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