Russian frigate « Shtandart » in Fécamp for « Grand’Escale »

The ship « Shtandart », registered under Russian flag and banned from European Union ports, entered the Bérigny dock for Fécamp « Grand’Escale » between 9:30 and 10:00 pm on 06 May 2024. It flew the flags of the Russian Empire and of Saint Petersburg at the mastheads.

In 1700, Peter I abandoned the « flag of the tsar of Moscow » and adopted a fundamentally new flag as his standard: a yellow cloth with a black double-headed eagle holding in its beak and paws the maps of the four seas to which Russia had access (Black, Caspian, Baltic, White).

The symbol displayed by « Shtandart » makes sense. Vladimir Putin ‘justifies’ the invasion of Ukraine by claiming the expansionist legacy of Peter the Great.

Russian imperialist culture is not neutral – Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the Hermitage Museum and a close associate of Vladimir Putin, talked to the government media Rossiiskaya Gazeta13. He described Russian culture as an important export, similar to the country’s war in Ukraine. « Our recent exhibitions abroad are just a powerful cultural offensive. If you want, a kind of ‘special operation’, which a lot of people don’t like. But we are coming. And no one can be allowed to interfere with our offensive. » “We are all militarists and imperials.”

Meanwhile, the Shtandart is still registered under the Russian flag.

Without even mentioning the circumvention of the cacophonous interministerial decision of 12 April 2024, announced by Didier Lallement, Secretary General for the Sea¹, this is a further violation of the sanctions taken following the Bucha massacres as set out in Article 3ea of EU Regulation No 833/2014.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02014R0833-20221007#tocId18

1.  It shall be prohibited to provide access, after 16 April 2022, to ports and, after 29 July 2022, to locks in the territory of the Union, to ANY vessel registered under the flag of Russia, with the exception of access to locks for the purpose of leaving the territory of the Union.

2.   Paragraph 1 shall apply to vessels that have changed their Russian flag or their registration, to the flag or register of any other State after 24 February 2022.

Article 3ea EU regulation n°833/2014

Sergey Shoigu and Vladimir Putin congratulate Didier Lallement, Secretary General for the Sea, Jean-Benoît Albertini, Prefect of Seine-Maritime, David Roussel, Mayor of Fécamp, and Laurent Le Bouëtté, President of « Fécamp Grand’Escale », for their contribution to the service of Russian interests and for their collaboration in Russian imperialist propaganda 🇷🇺 justifying the genocidal war being waged in Ukraine 🇺🇦. They award each of them a matryoshka: 🪆 🪆 🪆 🪆.

Sergey Shoigu and Vladimir Putin warmly thank Vadym Omelchenko, Ukrainian ambassador to France, Oleg Koval, president of the « Comité Représentatif de la Communauté Ukrainienne de France (CRCUF) » and Pascal Bronnec, president of « Solidarité Fécamp Ukraine », who duly acquiesced in this Russian propaganda operation. They are happy to co-opt them into the select « Yanukovych-Medvedchuk Club ».

Read also :

---

1. The Shtandart banned from France:
   Le Télégramme, 23/04/2024 : « The Shtandart is no longer authorised to call in France unless it changes flag. This is an interministerial decision dating from mid-April », states the State Representation and Interministerial Communication Office.
   Sud-Ouest 27/04/2024 : However, the official position of the French government is changing: the frigate will no longer be welcomed unless it changes flag… The department under the direct authority of the Prime Minister, headed by former Paris police prefect Didier Lallement, explains the new tightening of the screws: « The international context between France and Russia has changed and become tougher. We want to avoid any disturbance of public order » that might be caused by the presence of the Russian flag in a French port… In fact, the measure will not be imposed on the “Shtandart” until the day after its stopover in La Rochelle, between Sunday 28 April and Thursday 2 May. This derogation is justified by the fact that the restrictive decision taken on 12 April was made close to the scheduled stopover, during which children will be boarding the ship. « But, it warns, for Fécamp, where it is due to be on 8 May, it will have to have changed flag, otherwise it will be banned.« 
   Nord-Littoral 02/05/2024 : The Shtandart is indeed registered in Russia. And as long as this is the case, it will no longer be able to dock in France, it has been decided at the highest level of government. « The Shtandart has sailed to Sète, Bordeaux and La Rochelle, and was due to dock in Fécamp at the beginning of May, but it will not be able to do so unless it renounces its Russian flag ».
   Le Télégramme, 07/05/2024: The Côtes-d’Armor Office of State Representation and Interministerial Communication (Breci) has informed the Paimpol organisers that « the Shtandart is no longer authorised to call in France unless it changes flag. This is an interministerial decision dating from mid-April 2024 ». For their part, the organisers of Fécamp Grand’Escale assure us that it will be arriving under a flag of convenience ↩︎