Alexander Zaldostanov (also known as "The Surgeon") is the leader of the Russian biker gang, Night Wolves, which Putin is a member. The Russian government donates large sums of money to the Night Wolves for political support and mercenary missions.

Below is a pic of Alexander Zaldostanov, a towering and intimidating man, who some have said even Putin in private bends the knee to:

History

The club began forming out of a mixture of rock music fans and motorcycle enthusiasts who held then-illegal rock concerts in Moscow (see Censorship in the Soviet Union) as far back as 1983. By 1989 the club was consolidated as an informal motorcycle group bearing the name "Night Wolves", during the Perestroika era of the Soviet Union. It became the first official bike club in the USSR. The club established several chapters in Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Germany, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Macedonia. Alexander Zaldostanov (also known as The Surgeon) became the leader of the club in 1989.

The club runs multiple rock clubs and arranges many rock concerts in Russia. It also runs several tattoo parlors and is one of the founders of the annual International Moscow Tattoo Convention. In 1995, they launched a clothing line, "Wolf Wear," and established the "Wolf Engineering" custom shop subsidiary. It has gathered mechanics and general motorcycle enthusiasts from all across Russia, runs several motorcycle repair and custom shops and also developed the Wolf-Ural (????-????) motorcycle together with the manufacturer IMZ-Ural. They usually ride Harley-Davidsons. Another subsidiary is the racing team "Wolf Racing" which was created in 2001 and participates in and organizes various events in Russia.

A member of the Night Wolves, Valery Bely, was shot and killed in a dispute with a rival biker gang, Three Roads, in November 2012. The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, joined the group in August 2014. In May 2015, Zaldostanov inaugurated the group's Chechen branch in Grozny and named Kadyrov its honorary leader

Relationship with the Kremlin

The club has close ties to Vladimir Putin and a generally Russian nationalist sentiment. Putin has described them as his "friends" and appeared at their rallies, riding a Harley-Davidson trike. The Night Wolves are funded by the Kremlin, receiving "several hundred million rubles a year" according to a report in 2013. In May 2015, Alexei Navalny reported that the Russian government had given 56 million rubles to the group in the preceding year and a half. In October 2015, Night Wolves received a donation of 12,000,000 rubles from the Russian government to 'build a “Patriot” youth center in Sevastopol in Crimea'

Involvement in Ukraine

Members of the Night Wolves have fought on the side of pro-Russian militants during the Crimean Crisis and war in Donbass. They blockaded the main routes into Sevastopol and participated in attacks on a natural gas facility and the naval headquarters in the city. In April 2015, Agence France-Presse stated that Alexei Vereshchyagin had fought against Ukrainian government forces in Luhansk.

Shows

Their August 2014 show in Sevastopol, supporting the annexation of Crimea by Russia and depicting Ukraine as a country controlled by "fascists", was attended by an estimated 100,000 people and broadcast by Russian state television.

During their New Year's shows for children, the Night Wolves portrayed the West as conspiring to destroy Russia. In a January 2015 interview with RIA Novosti, Zaldostanov stated that "When the kids come to us, we don't cut costs on special effects or efforts to convey to the children a feeling of true drive and danger."

On Stalin

The Night Wolves admire Joseph Stalin. On their ride to Berlin in 2015, they displayed red flags with portraits of Stalin and shouted "For the Motherland! For Stalin!"

On Anti-Maidan protests

In January 2015, the group's leader, Zaldostanov, expressed support for a Russian Anti-Maidan movement which said it was ready to use violence to stop anti-government protesters.

On foreign countries

In an interview, Zaldostanov said "For the first time we showed resistance to the global Satanism, the growing savagery of Western Europe, the rush to consumerism that denies all spirituality, the destruction of traditional values, all this homosexual talk, this American democracy."

On LGBT People

In January 2015, Zaldostanov suggested that "Death to ****s" could be an alternate name for the Russian anti-Maidan movement. At a February 2015 "Anti-Maidan" rally in Moscow organized by Zaldostanov, popular slogans included "We don't need Western ideology and gay parades!"

Membership

According to some of the Night Wolves, a prospective member must be male, from a former Soviet country, invited by an existing member, and must participate in club events for two years before becoming a member.

The Night Wolves claim not to discriminate on religious grounds. The Night Wolves are openly homophobic and do not allow gay men to join the club; women are also not allowed to join.

The Night Wolves have over 5,000 members, including Ramzan Kadyrov, the Head of the Chechen Republic.

Here are more images of "The Surgeon" and the Night Wolves:

The Surgeon's Wife:

This post was edited on 5/9/16 at 4:50 pm