Night Wolves plant 'missile' saplings at Russian consulate
Members of the Night Wolves motorcycle club carried out the Russkiy Les operation in Brest. They planted hazel saplings, which they brought with them, on the grounds of the Russian Consulate General.
What do you need to know?
- Russian motorcyclists from the Night Wolves group, which supports Vladimir Putin, organised a ceremony at the Russian consulate in Brest. It was intended to celebrate Russian Victory Day.
- The Night Wolves dismounted their bikes and took up shovels. The area around the consulate building was planted with hazel saplings that the men brought with them.
- In Russian, hazel is "oreshnik." This is the name of a medium-range ballistic missile that Russia used to attack the Ukrainian Dnipro late last year and which it uses to threaten Europe.
What action did the Night Wolves motorcyclists organise?
"The motorcyclists, along with diplomats, planted hazel saplings brought from Russia on the grounds of the Consulate General as a reminder to those who revive the 'brown plague of the 21st century,'" reported the Russian diplomatic mission in Brest, near the Polish border.
What activities accompanied the Victory Day celebrations?
The motorcyclists also participated in the Immortal Regiment march. The Belarusian authorities allowed such celebrations this year for the first time in a long while. The march references the Brest Fortress, which for Russians and Belarusians symbolises the Red Army's resistance against the attack by the Third Reich on the USSR on 22 June 1941. Historians from Minsk and Moscow overlook the fact that in September 1939, the Polish Army first defended the fortress against the Wehrmacht and then against Soviet forces.
What is the provocation of the Night Wolves?
The hazel sapling event is meant to be a military joke. The new Russian medium-range ballistic missile was named Oreshnik, meaning hazel. According to belsat.eu, Alexander Lukashenka and Vladimir Putin have likely agreed to deploy this weapon in Belarus, but it has not yet happened. Western experts believe that Russia most likely possesses only a few units of this weapon in an experimental phase.
Who are the Night Wolves?
The Night Wolves motorcycle club was founded at the end of the USSR. It is led by Alexander Zaldostanov with the nickname "Surgeon." Under his leadership, the Night Wolves have become a tool of Kremlin propaganda. The club also has branches in some Western European countries, including Germany.
