A controversial Russian tall ship is currently at anchor in Killiney Bay, as RTÉ News reports.
The Shtandart is a replica of the flagship of Tsar Peter the Great’s Baltic Sea Fleet, its construction based on various descriptions of the original — including an 18th-century engraving - as the plans had been lost.
Launched in St Petersburg in 1999, the Shtandart has served as a sail training vessel in the decades since and previously visited Ireland when it stopped in Belfast and Drogheda in 2017.
But since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the ship has been accused of attempting to break EU sanctions — which bar Russian ships from European ports — by sailing under the flag of the Cook Islands.
In a statement, charity Ukrainian Action in Ireland described the ship as “a facade for a bloody regime”.
The ship’s captain Vladimir Martus, however, said the criticism was “unjust and unfair”, telling RTÉ News: "We are against what Putin is doing and nobody on this ship has ever expressed support for Russia.”
RTÉ News has more on the story HERE.
