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Sanctioned Russian ship intercepted by Coast Guard after docking in Louth

The 'Shtandard', banned from EU ports, was intercepted by the Coast Guard and gardaí in the early hours of July 9 after docking in a harbour in Co Louth. The vessel is subject to European sanctions imposed following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, preventing it from doing business with EU countries or visiting their ports. The ship drew significant attention on July 7 when it arrived in Killiney Bay off south Dublin and laid anchor a few hundred metres from the shore. Crew members and supplies were ferried from the shore on dinghies. On July 8 the 'Shtandart' was approached by the Irish Naval Service ship 'LÉ Aoibhinn'. which interrogated its captain, Vladimir Martus, over its intentions. He said he had not applied for permission to dock in Ireland as he knew it would be denied. However, he said he may have to dock somewhere soon to take on fresh drinking water. The ship departed Dublin waters around 3 p.m before sailing north. Shortly after midnight it docked at Port Oriel, a small fishing harbour in Clogherhead, County Louth. The Irish Coast Guard had been tracking the movements of the vessel and sent a unit to the scene. A Garda unit also attended. Coast Guard personnel boarded and checked the ship’s papers. The 'Shtandart' departed at 6 a.m. It sailed north and left Irish waters on the afternoon of July 9. Pro-Ukraine groups have accused the Shtandart as operating as a propaganda vessel for the Russian regime. The ship has also been accused of breaching maritime law, including by turning off its transponder signal to hide its movements.

Sanctioned Russian ship not welcome in French ports

The 'Shtandart' has been banned from entering ports in the French department of Ille-et-Vilaine, including the largest port, Saint-Malo, but some other regions are still ignoring the relevant EU sanctions. The No Shtandart In Europe group has assured that the 'Shtandart' is not welcome here and will not enter the port of Saint-Malo or any other port in the department. The prefecture stated that it respects the sanctions imposed by the EU and will comply with its own decree issued in 2024. Activists from the group had sent a letter to the prefect for informational purposes so that he could ensure compliance with the European ban in all ports of the department. A similar appeal was previously addressed to the prefecture of Charente-Maritime, as the Russian sailing ship was heading for the port of La Rochelle. However, the appeal was ignored there, and the ship was even able to take part in the naval parade. Earlier, the 'Shtandart', which replaced the Russian tricolor with the flags of Cook Island, published its summer sailing plan. Among the next stops, besides France, are moorings in Great Britain, Ireland, Norway, and Denmark. For more than three years, pro-Ukrainian civil society activists in France have been trying to force the 'Shtandart, which is under EU sanctions, to leave the country permanently.

Appeal of captain rejected

The Council of State has rejected the appeal filed by the captain of the "Shtandart", after the prefectural ban imposed on him in July 2024 from entering the ports of Finistère to participate in the Brest Maritime Festival. Vladimir Martus - who publicly displays his opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin but whose ship is accused of serving his propaganda - had brought an interim relief to the administrative court of Rennes: his ship, which no longer flies the Russian flag but the Cook Islands flag since June 6,, had "signed a contract" to participate in "a huge number of events" during the Maritime Festival. In particular, its captain was to "transport 1,500 passengers" and participate in the parade from Brest to Douarnenez, which required "significant logistics" and was to earn him "a significant sum of money". Vladimir Martus therefore simply had "the misfortune of being Russian" even though he has been living in Europe since 2009, his lawyer had lamented. Before the Council of State, Vladimir Martus argued that the Rennes judge had committed a double "error of law" on July 11, 2024: the ban on Russian ships accessing European ports since the war in Ukraine was "applicable only to replicas of historic ships flying the Russian flag on June 25, 2024", which was not her case. The order of the Breton magistrate also amounted to violating the "principles of legal certainty and legitimate trust" in the commitments of public authorities: "replicas of historic ships" such as the Shtandart were not covered by the provisions of the European Union regulation. But "none of these grounds are such as to allow the appeal to be admitted", the Council of State ruled in a judgment on Nov 18.