When tennis champion Novak Djokovic’s father was filmed alongside fans brandishing Russian flags at the Australian Open, a storm erupted around the world No.1.
But those with a deeper understanding of the pro-Russia movement in Australia were more concerned about who Srdjan Djokovic had posed with.
Novak Djokovic at Brighton Beach after winning the Australian Open in 2021. Bobby Sibic, who has been referred to as the Australian Night Wolves’ president, stands in front of Djokovic and is holding the Night Wolves flag.Credit:AP
Among the group of men shown waving the banned Russian flag and unfurling propaganda were influential members of a pro-Vladimir Putin group known as the Night Wolves.
Relatively unknown in Australia, the club began as a Russian motorcycle group that first emerged in the late 1980s.
Night Wolves founder Alexander Zaldostanov (left) with the group’s Australian figure Sasha Karaman in Sevastopol in 2019.Credit:Facebook
It has since grown into a radical nationalist movement that’s been sanctioned – along with its most prominent international members – by the European Union and US. The group is considered a security threat due to its intelligence and combat activities in Crimea and close ties to Putin.
Victoria Police confirmed the club’s local chapters are not under scrutiny.
In 2015, the club announced its presence in Australia on its Russian website. Its national chapter is based in Sydney, and it also has arms in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.
While the Night Wolves’ influence and activities – including military mobilisation in various conflicts – have been reported at large in international settings, its influence in Australia and its local membership have flown under the radar.
Featured in the now-infamous Australian Open video were the one-time vice president of the group’s Melbourne chapter and a member who has been identified in footage as the Night Wolves’ national president.
Academic Robert Horvath said the Night Wolves’ origins were as a paramilitary and radical nationalist movement. But the group’s role in Australia is simpler.
Srdjan Djokovic (left) posing with Bobby Sibic (right), who has been referred to as president of the Australian Night Wolves.
“The Australian Night Wolves are probably one of the most important structures the Putin regime has for exerting influence in Australia,” the La Trobe University expert on Russian politics said.
Dr Kira Harris, from Charles Sturt University, researches Russian political warfare and has written about the Night Wolves’ influence here.
She said the Night Wolves used the Australian Open to cause disruption and give the group a platform to spread their narrative.
Sasha Karaman, one-time deputy leader of the Night Wolves’ Melbourne chapter, at a membership drive last year.Credit:Facebook
“[Novak] Djokovic is certainly a hero to the local Serbian community, but the choice to use Djokovic’s game as their platform likely stems from the Serbian nationalism in a large portion of the Australian Night Wolves, as well as Djokovic’s treatment at the Open last year,” Harris said.
At Melbourne Park, Novak’s father Srdjan was filmed walking and standing with the group’s members.
As the senior Djokovic walks off, one Night Wolves member can be heard in the video saying “long live Russia” in Serbian.
After interviews with experts, analysing video footage and cross-referencing social media pages, this masthead can reveal that the man is Slobodan “Bobby” Sibic, who was introduced in a video as the president of the club’s Australian chapter.
In footage filmed at the Australian Open, Sibic was seen wearing a shirt with the letter “Z”, widely considered to be the symbol of support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sasha Karaman at this year’s Australian Open, holding a half-Serbian, half Russian flag with nationalist slogans, which The Age has pixelated.Credit:Facebook
A fellow member of the group, featured in a later part of the video, has been identified as Sasha Karaman, a former vice president of an Australian chapter of the Night Wolves.
Karaman appears in footage next to Sibic outside Rod Laver Arena: Karaman waving a flag of the Putin puppet state Donetsk People’s Republic, in south-east Ukraine; while Sibic displays a Russian flag with an image of Putin.
Karaman also posted a picture from Melbourne Park to his social media account displaying a half-Serbian, half-Russian flag with the inscription “Kosovo is Serbia”, “Crimea is Russia”.
Night Wolves founder Alexander Zaldostanov (left) with Australians Sasha Karaman and Bobby Sibic.Credit:Facebook
A one-time vice president of the Melbourne Night Wolves, Karaman has been photographed overseas with Night Wolves founder Alexander Zaldostanov, and another prominent figure, Gennadii Nikulov – who were both sanctioned by the US for their role in the Crimean conflict. Putin awarded Zaldostanov an Order of Honour in 2013.
Attempts have been made to contact Sibic and Karaman about their involvement in the group.
Investigations by this masthead have revealed this summer’s incident wasn’t the first time the group tried to use the Djokovics as a platform for its cause.
In 2021, following Novak Djokovic’s victory in the men’s final over Russian player Daniil Medvedev, the tennis caravan moved to Melbourne’s Brighton Beach, where Djokovic posed with his trophy and for photos with fans.
Photos uncovered by this masthead reveal Sibic posed with Novak Djokovic in 2021 at Brighton Beach.
Djokovic was filmed signing a Night Wolves flag, which has a wolf logo at its centre, along with the words “have a good trip, friends”, written in Serbian Cyrillic.
That photo of Sibic and Djokovic was later posted online by the late leader of the Serbian faction of the Night Wolves, Sasa Savic, who wrote: “When Serbian brothers in faraway Australia, also members of the Night Wolves and RM [Russian Motorcyclists International], meet Nole [Novak’s nickname], the king of tennis, and congratulate him on winning the Australian Open, an autograph also drops… ‘Have a good trip, friends … Nole.’”
Attempts have been made to contact the Djokovic camp about the incidents, but they have not responded. This masthead is not suggesting they are members of or affiliated with the Night Wolves.
On social media, the Night Wolves post seemingly innocuous local activities, such as bike rides and gatherings with other military and social motorcycle clubs, as well as visits to Orthodox churches and military memorial sites.
On online community pages, its members tend to promote Putin’s activities, and their narratives reflect anti-US and anti-NATO views, along with support for Russia’s international activities.
The club has an affiliate group, known as Russian Motorcyclists International, which has members in both Victoria and Queensland.
Horvath said the Night Wolves created the affiliate group to operate in countries that might be expected to treat the Night Wolves with suspicion.
“What can be demonstrated is that they strongly identify as Night Wolves. They wear Night Wolves regalia and employ Night Wolves symbolism on social media. They frequently describe themselves as Night Wolves,” Horvath said.
Sibic’s attempts to reach into Australian culture seemingly extend beyond sport.
From left: Bobby Sibic, UAP leader Craig Kelly and right-wing figure Simeon Boikov in 2022.Credit:Twitter
In January 2022, he appeared alongside United Australia leader Craig Kelly and notorious right-wing extremist figure Simeon Boikov.
Boikov leads the “Australian Cossacks”, another pro-Vladimir Putin propaganda organisation, and according to official sources, has been on the intelligence services’ radar since at least 2014.
In the video posted to Twitter by Sputnik Srbija – the Serbian branch of the Russian global news agency Sputnik – Sibic can be seen in front of a crowd next to Kelly and Boikov. In this video, he is introduced as president of the Australian Night Wolves.
Addressing a rally in support of Djokovic during the tennis champion’s visa saga in 2022, Sibic referred to Kelly’s apology to Djokovic: “[Kelly] obviously had the guts and balls to not only say sorry to Novak Djokovic, but also the Serbian people of this country and in Serbia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on a ride through Novorossiysk, Russia, with Night Wolves founder Alexander Zaldostanov in 2011.Credit:AP
“We need more politicians like that.”
It was on Boikov’s YouTube channel where the now infamous Melbourne Park video which featured Srdjan Djokovic, Sibic and Karaman first appeared.
Academics are concerned about the influence the Night Wolves’ ideologies – which are staunchly anti-West – could have in Australia.
In Harris’ 2021 study, published in the Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, which analysed the club’s presence in Australia, she warned that its members’ activities could “amplify community tensions and undermine sovereignty”.
“The Russian Night Wolves promote Western decadence as a threat to their conservative values and Orthodox beliefs,” Harris said.
“This, combined with Russian foreign policy towards embracing compatriots, opens the door for individuals with ties to central and Eastern Europe and those with far-right leanings.”
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