Putin-backed Night Wolves sink claws into Australia
A notorious Kremlin-backed bikie gang with ties to the intelligence services and a hatred for western democracy is actively recruiting in Australia after quietly setting up clubs across the eastern states.
Russia’s biggest and most notorious bikie club, dubbed Vladimir Putin’s “angels” has staked a claim in Australia.
The Night Wolves Motorcycle Club, which has been sanctioned in the US and Canada over its activities in Eastern Europe, has quietly opened clubs across NSW, Victoria and Queensland and is recruiting for new members.
Experts say the Night Wolves, who have ties to Russian intelligence services and sprout hatred against Western democracies calling them evil, satanic, and oppressors of Russia, are unlike anything ever seen before in Australia.
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Dr Kira Harris, an adjunct lecturer at the Charles Sturt University Graduate School of Policing and Security, said the motorcycle club is similar to bikie clubs like the Hells Angels and Bandidos but has evolved into an organisation with “ideological influence” operating more as a propaganda machine.
Dr Harris said the Night Wolves agenda, which vows to protect the Orthodox Church, also bears striking similarities to the doctrine of extremist groups. “But while the rhetoric is there, there are no known extremist actions in Australia,” she said.
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The opening of clubs across Australia’s east coast comes at a time when the Kremlin is reportedly spreading its influence across the world by recruiting bikies, radical right, and fringe groups to push its covert influence, and amid concerns in countries like the US about foreign interference in domestic politics.
In Australia, the male-only Night Wolves club members have opened a string of social media accounts which have attracted hundreds of followers and show some of their activities in Australia.
Photos and videos show club members on organised rides openly wearing their colours and a “tri-rocker” patch (the three-piece design denoting the club name, logo and territory) on the back of their cut-off vests.
There is also footage of senior Russian-based Night Wolves club members who have been visiting Australia for years bringing gifts and drumming up support from the Russian communities in Sydney and Melbourne.
Senior law enforcement officers said that while there is no evidence of criminality in Australia, what happens within the Russian community itself may not be visible.
The Facebook page for Night Wolves Australia carries a description which says in a rough translation from Russian the “Night Wolves is considered as the first MC-Club born in the vast Soviet Union, which has won the World’s recognition as the largest, powerful and independent Club with the Russian face and traditions”.
Dr Harris said in her research paper Russia’s Fifth Column: The Influence of the Night Wolves Motorcycle Club, the Night Wolves’ sphere of influence is growing with more than 65 chapters now operating in ten countries.
One organised crime expert said it is highly unusual that the emergence of the Night Wolves — even though they are not considered an Outlaw Motorcycle Gang (OMCG) — appears to have gone unchallenged by other existing Australian OMCG chapters.
The Commander of the NSW Police Criminal Group Squads Detective Superintendent Deb Wallace said the NSW Police are aware of the Night Wolves and their reputation in Russia but they are not a current outlaw motorcycle gang in NSW.
“While the group appear to espouse much of the ethos and culture of an OMCG and have been seen to display the three-piece patch usually restricted to “1 per cent” (outlaw) clubs members do not specifically wear the 1 per cent patch,” said Superintendent Wallace.
“Strike Force Raptor monitors the presence of international OMCG and other clubs in NSW and have noted Night Wolves members travelling to Australia for a number of years, but there is no information or intelligence to suggest their presence relates to criminal activity nor that they are associated with any Australian OMCGs.”
Dr Harris said it is “unlikely the Night Wolves will grow large enough to threaten any of the current outlaw motorcycle gangs”.
However, club chapters in Europe and Russia have developed a so-called “fifth column”, groups of men that are embedded in a population, combat-ready and trained to fight — as happened in the Ukrainian conflict.
The Night Wolves have already shown their ability to mobilise sentiment at home and abroad, reportedly using Kremlin funds to push propaganda through spin-off commercial businesses, including security companies and clothing lines and by staging children’s shows with Russian characters pushing anti-western messages.
Night Wolves leader Alexander Zaldostanov has said they are against violence for the sake of violence but won’t hesitate to use suppression, discrimination or intimidation tactics against those considered Russian enemies — even on foreign soil.
Dr Harris said it is possible Russian diasporas in countries outside Europe — including the US and Australia are receptive to the Night Wolves and Putin’s ideological stance and foreign policy.
“In light of Russian interference in the Trump election, understanding Putin’s use of crime groups as state proxies becomes increasingly crucial.”
Originally published as Putin-backed Night Wolves sink claws into Australia
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