Russia has demanded an explanation from Poland as to why it denied entry to a group of Russian bikers commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Nazi defeat in World War II.
Poland had said on April 24 that it would not allow the bikers, who belong to the Night Wolves, a club with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, to cross into its territory.
Some 20 motorcyclists started riding toward Berlin from Moscow on April 25.
But Dariusz Sienicki, spokesman of the Nadbuzanski department of the state border guards, said the riders were not allowed to cross the Belarusian-Polish border on April 27 due to "documentation irregularities."
Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it "decisively condemned" Poland's decision to bar entry to the bikers and said the move could be considered sacrilegious, given the heroism shown by Soviet soldiers who fought against the Nazis during World War II.
The bikers want to trace the path of the Soviet Army's victorious World War II advance into Nazi Germany.
Night Wolves leader Aleksandr Zaldostanov, known as the Surgeon, said on April 25 that if Polish authorities would not let the group cross the border together they would enter the country "individually, from various points."
