Alexander Sergeyevich Zaldastanov (, also known as "The Surgeon", ), is a Russian

motorcycle club A motorcycle club is a group of individuals whose primary interest and activities involve motorcycles. A motorcycle group can range as clubbed groups of different bikes or bikers who own same model of vehicle like the Harley Owners Group. There ...

leader, political activist, and former physician. He is the leader of the

Night Wolves The Night Wolves () or Night Wolves Motorcycle Club is a Russian motorcycle club that was founded around the Moscow area in 1989. It holds an international status with at least 45 chapters world-wide. History The club began forming out of a ...

, Russia's largest motorcycle club. He was awarded the Medal "For the Return of Crimea" by President of the Russian Federation

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

for his actions in "Helping Crimeans to self-determine".

Early life

Zaldastanov was born in

Kirovohrad Kropyvnytskyi (, ) is a city in central Ukraine, situated on the Inhul River. It serves as the administrative center of Kirovohrad Oblast. Population: Over its history, Kropyvnytskyi has changed its name several times. The settlement was k ...

(present day Kropyvnytskyi in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, then

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

) in 1963. His father is Ukrainian, and his mother, a doctor, is Russian. Zaldastanov describes his mother as a "convinced communist", but he says that the family still prayed to

Russian Orthodox The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

s. The Zaldastanovs spoke Russian at home, despite the father's Ukrainian background. The family moved to

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

in the

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

when he was young, and then again to Moscow. He was involved in the communist youth

Pioneer movement A pioneer movement is an youth organization, organization for children operated by a communist party. Typically children enter into the organization in elementary school and continue until adolescence. The adolescents then typically join the Yo ...

as a teenager. Zaldastanov studied medicine in Moscow, and practiced as assistant of surgeries, specializing in post-traumatic facial reconstruction. He left medicine and became involved in motorcycle club activities. In the mid-1980s, he was working as a bouncer in a nightclub in

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

. He was in demand as Moscow suffered from crime-related violence with the fall of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Night Wolves

Zaldastanov was introduced to motorcycle culture in the mid 1980s, while he was in Berlin. He purchased a Czech-made motorcycle, and began participating in the biker scene in Moscow while still working as a surgeon. He formed the Night Wolves, Russia's first major motorcycle club, in 1989. The club maintains close ties to the Russian Orthodox Church, and promotes nationalist ideals. Moving away from themes like drugs and organized crime associated with American motorcycle clubs like the

Hells Angels The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is an international outlaw motorcycle club founded in California whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells ...

, Zaldastanov began to use the club for political activism in the 2000s. In the late 2000s, the club began holding rallies in the former Soviet Eastern European countries, promoting Slavic culture. Vladimir Putin participated in one rally, travelling with the group to Sevastopol in 2012. Zaldastanov has offered the Night Wolves to the Russian Government as an informal militia. Zaldastanov and other club members visited Crimea just prior to the Russian annexation in 2014, and publicly supported the change of power on the peninsula. He and the Night Wolves have offered support to pro-Russia militias fighting in the eastern Ukraine.

Political activities

Zaldastanov is known for strong support of the Russian government, military, and President Vladimir Putin. He is also known for his admiration for former Soviet leader

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

and homophobic views. Zaldastanov was one of the official torchbearers for the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

in Sochi, and received the Order of Honour, a Russian state decoration, from Putin in 2013. In January 2015, Zaldastanov formed the "

Anti-Maidan The anti-Maidan (; ) refers to a number of pro-Russian demonstrations in Ukraine in 2013 and 2014 that were directed against Euromaidan and later the new Ukrainian government. The initial participants were in favor of supporting the cabinet of ...

" movement with journalist Nikolai Starikov and several right-wing politicians. The group opposes "Maidan"-style democratic revolutions, specifically the

Orange Revolution The Orange Revolution () was a series of protests that led to political upheaval in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005. It gained momentum primarily due to the initiative of the general population, sparked by the aftermath of the ...

and 2014

Euromaidan Euromaidan ( ; , , ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protests in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv. The p ...

revolts in

, as well as opposition political groups within Russia. Zaldastanov suggested that "Death to faggots" could be an alternate name for the Russian anti-Maidan movement. *''Original in Russian:''

Sanctions

Zaldastanov has been sanctioned by several governments, including the United States and Canada, for the Night Wolves' involvement in the unrest in Ukraine in the mid-2010s. The American government has accused him of personally taking part in the annexation of the Crimean peninsula by Russia in March 2014, by participating in “the confiscation of Ukrainian weapons with the Russian forces”. In April 2015, he and the Night Wolves were refused entry to the European Union at the Polish border. In July 2022, Zaldastanov was sanctioned along with other Night Wolves leaders by the EU for the group’s propaganda efforts in support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began earlier the same year. He and his organization have indeed organized various rallies, concerts and fundraisers in support of the Russian troops and affiliated separatist groups.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaldastanov, Alexander Russian activists Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia) 1963 births People from Kropyvnytskyi Living people Russian people of Georgian descent Russian individuals subject to U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions Russian individuals subject to European Union sanctions Anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Russia