Press
The nationalist bikers drove to Berlin again. Some “Night Wolves” are sanctioned by the EU. According to the police, they remained quiet at the event in Berlin.
Berlin – Hundreds of people in Berlin commemorated the end of the Second World War 79 years ago at the Soviet memorials in Tiergarten and Treptower Park on Thursday. Among them were members of the Russian nationalist rocker gang “Night Wolves”. The Russian ambassador Sergei Yuryevich Nechayev also visited both places. He welcomed Russian Orthodox clergy at the memorial event in Treptower Park. The police checked visitors at the park entrances for prohibited symbols and objects.
Isolated incidents at a memorial event for the victims of the Second World War in Berlin
On May 8, 1945, Germany surrendered and the Second World War ended in Europe. In Russia, Remembrance Day is celebrated on May 9 as Victory Day over Nazi Germany. Typically, representatives of the Russian Embassy in Berlin also lay wreaths at memorial sites on May 9th. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, commemorative events have increasingly been taken over by nationalists.
A police spokeswoman said in the afternoon that there had been isolated incidents around the memorial in the zoo. Some people were taken away to record their personal details. Police officers and policewomen were insulted. Some participants showed signs of anti-constitutional organizations. What exactly this was supposed to be was not initially known. Most visitors, however, behaved peacefully. They laid wreaths and flowers, many wearing military uniforms.
“Night Wolves” remained quiet during their visit to Berlin
The Russian nationalist rocker group “Nachtwölfe” also stopped off in Berlin on Thursday and visited the two memorials in Tiergarten and Treptower Park. There were no special incidents, said the police spokeswoman. The group had previously traveled to Brandenburg under police escort. Some members of the group are on European Union sanctions lists because of their proximity to the regime.
The group has been visiting various memorial sites on the occasion of Remembrance Day for years. The anti-Western “Night Wolves” are considered supporters of the Russian president Wladimir Putin and the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. Members of the motorcycle club visited Potsdam on Wednesday. In previous years they had already traveled to Berlin via Slovakia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Saxony and Brandenburg. (dpa/kb)
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