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The Kyiv Independent’s contributor Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke spent a day with a mobile team from the State Emergency Service in Nikopol in the south of Ukraine as they responded to relentless drone, artillery, and mortar strikes from Russian forces just across the Dnipro River. Nikopol is located across from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar.

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Russian sailing frigate docks in French port despite sanctions, AFP reports

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Russian sailing frigate docks in French port despite sanctions, AFP reports
Photo for illustrative purposes. Russian boat "Shtandart" (L) and a thousand traditional boats participate in the great parade during the ninth Semaine du Golfe on May 27, 2017 in Locmariaquer, western France. (Jean Sebastien Evrard/AFP via Getty Images)

France allowed the Russian sailing frigate Shtandart to dock in its port despite EU sanctions over Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, AFP reported on Aug. 7, citing an unnamed port source.

The European Union along with some other nations banned Russian ships from entering their ports soon after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The vessel arrived in the port city of La Rochelle overnight on Aug. 6 to replenish supplies and refuel, the source told AFP. The same day in the afternoon, the Standart departed in an unclear direction, the news agency reported.

Another AFP's source close to the French authorities said  it was only a "technical stopover" and that there was no reason to prohibit it.

The Shtandart ship is a replica of a frigate belonging to Tsar Peter the Great. It was banned from entering the French port city of Brest and from the Breton port's maritime festival in July after the regional Finistere prefecture ruled that EU sanctions included "historic ships" that bore a Russian flag before the invasion.

A video was published on the boat's Instagram account on Aug. 6 showing its captain and owner Vladimir Martus who comments on the stopover.

"Shtandart is going to depart from La Rochelle. It's been beautiful to be here, we've got fuel, we got food, we sent the crew to shower, we are going to sail for a week. Bye-bye La Rochelle! Hope to be here again," he says in the video.

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Kateryna Denisova

News Editor

Kateryna Denisova works as a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a news editor at the NV media outlet for four years, covering mainly Ukrainian and international politics. Kateryna holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. She also was a fellow at journalism schools in the Czech Republic and Germany.

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