Russia Refuses Entry to Polish Bikers for Unauthorized Memorial Gathering at Historic Cemetery

Russian authorities have prohibited entry for 39 Polish bikers who were accused of conducting an unauthorized rally at a Polish military cemetery located in the Tver region.

The Mednoye Memorial Complex marks the site of the second-largest massacre of Polish officers and prisoners by the Soviet secret police in 1940. In 2000, Poland and Russia officially opened the Polish War Cemetery there.

Over the weekend, pro-Kremlin media reported that many Polish bikers had reportedly broken into the memorial complex to carry out a “torchlight ceremony,” leading to their subsequent arrest.

On Sunday, regional police announced that 39 individuals faced charges for unauthorized access to the site and received bans from entering Russia for five years. The group allegedly entered Russia through Belarus.

A Polish motorcyclist association named Stowarzyszenie Kocham Polskę stated that they had organized a prayer service and mass at the cemetery the previous Wednesday, but did not mention any arrests. They shared images of bikers with torches at the memorial site.

The association noted that its members had also visited other execution locations of Polish prisoners in both Russia and Belarus in the days prior.

Stowarzyszenie Kocham Polskę did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In 1940, the Soviet secret police executed approximately 22,000 Polish officers in the Katyn forest, in present-day Kharkiv, Ukraine, and at Mednoye. For many years, the Soviet Union attributed the massacre to Nazi Germany.

In May, Poland’s Foreign Ministry expressed its dissent regarding the removal of military symbols from the Polish War Cemetery in Mednoye. The cemetery confirmed on its website that it had taken down the military symbols due to “violations of federal law.”