"We are not heroes. We are idiots who got stuck in this situation because of our own stupidity"
FOUR Russian bikers have flown back to Russia after being jailed and allegedly beaten in Iraq for entering the country with fake visas.
The four men, Oleg Kapkayev, Alexander Vardanyants, Oleg Maximov and Maxim Ignatyev entered Iraq from Turkey on their motorcycles but were briefly detained by a military patrol. The Russian Embassy intervened and advised the bikers to leave the country as their papers weren't in order.
The group ignored the advice and were later detained by a military patrol outside Baghdad and later jailed at an Iraqi military base for four days, where they claim they were beaten, threatened and accused of being spies.
The group claim they had been provided with fake Iraqi visas by a travel agency in Moscow, which, he said, had also given them visas for Iran.
After diplomatic negotiations, the bikers were released to the Russian Embassy and flown back to Moscow, without their motorcycles.
One of the group, Vardanyants told press: “An effort is being made on the Internet to portray us as heroes, but that is not the case. We are not heroes. We are idiots who got stuck in this situation because of our own stupidity.”
Next time you plan a once in a lifetime adventure; don't go to Iraq and if you do, don't arrange it via a Russian travel agency..
