Vladimir Putin has been reported to the Russian authorities by a lawyer and legislator for not wearing a helmet while riding a motorbike at a show.
The Russian president attended a biker show in Russian-administered Crimea organised by the Night Wolves motorcycle club last Saturday and footage emerged of a helmet-less Putin driving a Ural motorcycle carrying two passengers – one in a side car- in front of a crowd of onlookers.
The black-clad president was not alone, with the rest of the convoy also deciding to go helmet-free.
The complainants claimed that by not wearing a helmet, the president had violated Russian law, according to local media.
Maxim Chikhunov, a lawyer in the city of Vladivostok, in the Russian Far East, submitted a formal complaint on Monday to the Sevastopol branch of Russia’s traffic police, photos of which he uploaded to social media.
Oleg Khomutinnikov, a legislator in the western Russian city of Lipetsk sent a similar complaint to the Office of the Prosecutor General later the same day. He also uploaded his denunciation to Facebook, writing: “Putin is violating [the law] again. I think it’s becoming a bad tradition.”
This is not the first time the Russian president has disregarded the national highway code, having been filmed last year driving a truck at the inauguration of the Crimean Bridge without a seat belt.
The Night Wolves receive funding from the Russian government and have close links with the Kremlin and Putin. They are active in promoting Russian nationalism and reportedly patrolled the streets in Crimea following the Russian takeover of the peninsula in 2014.
It is not yet known if Putin has been fined over the incident.
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Story By: William McGee, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
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