On 26 November 2025, a second formal warning was issued to the Russian agency Kombat-Tour concerning its planned cruise aboard the frigate Shtandart in Brittany. An article in Le Télégramme points out that the ship remains banned from European ports due to EU sanctions and French and European court rulings. Continuing with this project would expose the Russian agency to serious legal, commercial and geopolitical risks.
Archives de l’étiquette : France
Mise en demeure – demande d’arrêté préfectoral d’interdiction d’accès aux ports de Charente-Maritime pour le navire russe « Shtandart »
Mise en demeure et ses pièces jointes, adressées le 13 août 2025 par l’association Iroise Ukraine et le collectif No Shtandart in Europe à M. Brice Blondel, préfet de la Charente-Maritime, concernant le navire russe TS Shtandart, MMSI 518999255, basé dans le port de La Rochelle depuis le 8 juin 2022, en violation de l’article 3 sexies bis du règlement (UE) n° 833/2014. Ce document tient compte des événements récents et des fraudes impliquant le Shtandart survenus en Bretagne nord, à Jersey, en Irlande, en Écosse, en Norvège et au Danemark, où toutes les autorités préfectorales ou nationales ont interdit l’accostage du navire russe.
A rhetorical analysis of the president of the ‘Les Amis des Grands Voiliers — Sail Training Association France’ in relation to the sanctioned Russian ship, ‘Shtandart’.
Dated 3 January 2025, a letter from Michel Balique, president of Les Amis des Grands Voiliers — Sail Training Association France, provides a remarkable summary of the rhetoric used against activists opposing the Russian ship Shtandart’s failure to comply with sanctions over the past three years.
How did « Les Amis des Grands Voiliers – Sail Training Association France » deviate from its mandate and damage its reputation by promoting an illicit circumvention of EU sanctions ?
Michel Balique ridiculed and discredited Les Amis des Grands Voiliers primarily by converting its platform into a pro‑Shtandart lobbying machine, repeatedly dodging substantive legal critique, and replacing it with rhetorical excess and personal invective. The result, according to critics, was to tarnish the association’s founders’ intentions and academic legitimacy, presenting it as complicit in illicit circumvention of EU sanctions.
Alert! Help us to stop the fraud involving the Russian ship « Shtandart » in Belgium!
In the summer of 2025, the Russian propaganda ship Shtandart will offer illegal cruises to various destinations, including France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal. It is expected to dock in Ostend on September 1, 2025, during its voyage from Stavanger, Norway, to Saint-Malo, France.
Summer 2025: Russian ship « Shtandart » plans illegal stopovers in ports of France, UK, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Spain & Portugal
For the 2025 summer season, the Shtandart, a Russian propaganda ship under sanctions, has launched its commercial campaign for joining its tour of European ports. This time, it is no longer limited to France, Spain, or even the EU. This illustrates its skipper’s sense of impunity, the confidence he has in his networks of influence and the contempt in which he holds our institutions. This also shows that our countries will only be able to put an end to the fraud that has been going on for more than three years if they follow the Spanish example, i.e. by a concerted ban on their territorial waters.
Why did Michel Balique, president of ‘Friends of tall ships’ association, become collateral damage to the Russian vessel ‘Shtandart’?
Michel Balique, president of the Amis des grands voiliers – Sail Training Association France, is one of the two main French lobbyists for the Russian vessel Shtandart, which became a violation of European regulations on 16 April 2022, the date of application of the 5th round of the European sanctions imposed following the Bucha massacres. This activism on behalf of Russian interests has ruined his digital image, i.e. his reputation, and that of the association he chairs.
Pourquoi Michel Balique, président de l’association « Amis des grands voiliers », est-il devenu un dégât collatéral du navire russe « Shtandart » ?
Michel Balique, président de l’association Amis des grands voiliers, est un des deux principaux lobbyistes français du navire russe Shtandart, devenu contrevenant au Règlement européen à partir du 16 avril 2022, date de l’application du 5e volet des sanctions portuaires européennes pris suite aux massacres de Boutcha. Ce militantisme au service d’intérêts russes a ruiné son image numérique, c’est-à-dire sa réputation, et celle de l’association qu’il préside.
Sanctions alert: in La Rochelle, the Russian vessel Shtandart continues to circumvent EU regulations, despite the clarification from the European Council and the decision by the French Council of State
Letter from the ‘Union des Ukrainiens de France’ and the ‘No Shtandart in Europe’ collective to the European Commission, for the attention of the department responsible for monitoring the application of sanctions.
Élisabeth Borne et le navire russe « Shtandart », contrevenant aux sanctions portuaires européennes
Depuis le 8 juin 2022, le navire Shtandart, basé a La Rochelle, poursuit ses activités commerciales dans les différents ports français en dépit du 5e volet des sanctions pris à la suite des massacres de Boutcha. Cette occupation de nos cités maritimes n’a jamais reçu d’autorisation officielle. Pourtant, le réseau d’influence du navire russe n’aLire la suite « Élisabeth Borne et le navire russe « Shtandart », contrevenant aux sanctions portuaires européennes »
The "Shtandart" In Europe 