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Putin's biker cavalcade reaches Berlin

DPA/The Local
DPA/The Local - [email protected]
Putin's biker cavalcade reaches Berlin
The "Night Wolves" at the Berlin Karlshorst German-Russian museum. Photo: DPA

Members of the Night Wolves Russian biker gang, reputed to be close to President Vladimir Putin, commemorated the end of the Second World War in Berlin on Friday.

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The Russians laid red wreaths at the German-Russian museum in Karlshorst, where the remaining leaders of the Third Reich's armed forces signed the surrender on the night between May 8th and 9th, 1945.

After kneeling in a row in front of a stone-carved memorial inscription, the bikers took a tour of the museum's exhibits.

More than 30 of them gathered, including some sympathisers from within Germany.

An attempt by the German Foreign Ministry to refuse visas to some of the men had provoked anger among the visitors, with one saying that it “outraged” them.

The “victory tour” of Europe ending in Berlin, echoing the Red Army's 1945 offensive into the heart of the Reich, was launched by Night Wolves leader Alexander Saldostanow, a friend of Putin's.

It is scheduled to end on May 9th after two weeks on the road.

On Saturday, the biker delegation will visit Treptower Park in eastern Berlin, site of a gigantic memorial to the soldiers who fell defeating the Nazis.

They will also visit the city's central Soviet war memorial, in the Tiergarten park near the Reichstag building.

SEE ALSO: Putin's biker gang cross border into Germany

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