We Need to Weaken the Mixture by Guy Martin

Author:Guy Martin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ebury Publishing
Published: 2018-10-17T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

‘He wore big spacers on the bottom of his shoes’

ANOTHER DAY AND another flight, this time from Naberezhnye Chelny back to Moscow. Every flight we took, and there were ten in all, we had to book in summat like 40 extra bags over our regular allowance, because we had so much camera and recording kit. Every bag cost at least £100. I wouldn’t want the bill for that.

Most of the day was spent travelling, but we did a bit of filming on the bridge near the Moscow hotel just about what we’d learned up to then. It was another piece to camera. James spotted somewhere that would make a good background so we climbed out the van and were done in ten minutes.

We hadn’t done anything to do with motorbikes up till now, but that changed on Good Friday when we met up with a motorbike gang called the Night Wolves. They are back-patch club, meaning they’d be compared to the Hells Angels. They’re not riding around in hi-vis or replica leathers. They’re unusual in lots of ways, compared to most bike clubs, because they have very close links to the Kremlin. Putin goes riding with them and turns up at their events. They get hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of funding from the Kremlin every year to help educate Russian youths, no doubt following guidelines from the Kremlin. They have very strong views on stuff. They’re not sharing much of an inclusive message when it comes to gay rights. That was clear.

The day I met them, the Night Wolves were holding a press conference, but we met them at their clubhouse first. I was introduced to the leader, Alexander Zaldostanov, also known as the Surgeon. He was the one who’d be holding the press conference. He was a scary, authoritative bloke. Alexander demanded respect wherever he went by saying nothing, but he wore big spacers on the bottom of his shoes. I noticed that. He only wanted to be filmed from one side. He was raised in Sebastopol, in Crimea, and he’s a Russian nationalist, proud of his country whatever it does. He always wanted Ukraine to remain a part of Russia and told me he thought that independence has buggered the country.

The Night Wolves’ clubhouse was much more than that. They have a custom-vehicle building business. It’s open to the public, and they do real good food, and put on shows over the Christmas period and all through the summer. The shows are aimed at families, and are exhibitions of the machines they’ve made, stuff like talking trucks; machines the size of buildings that move, like robots; massive army trucks with their cabs made into wolves’ heads. These things are works of art, and more Mad Max than Mad Max.

At the clubhouse there are pictures all over the place of Alexander riding with Putin. The Night Wolves are all massive supporters of Putin and every year they ride somewhere, sometimes Ukraine or Poland or Germany, to celebrate Russia’s military conquests and victories.

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