In the Ukrainian seaport of Sevastopol in the Crimean peninsula, a massive motorbike festival is revving up to commemorate the liberation of the city from the Nazis.
Up to five thousand bikers from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus – and around twenty thousand spectators – are in attendance remembering the 65th anniversary of the Sevastopol victory.
A group of bikers, headed by the president of the Moscow “Nights Wolves” biker club Alexander Zaldostanov, have ridden into the center of the city.
On Zaldostanov’s bike there was a Russian flag which earlier Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had presented to him.
The bikers are also saluting the Russian Black Sea Fleet stationed in the region.
An agreement between Kiev and Moscow allowing the Russian naval contingent to use Sevastopol as its home base expires in 2017.
The Ukrainian leadership wants the fleet to leave after that, but opinion polls suggest most of the Crimean population – which is predominantly ethnic Russian – wants the navy to stay.