{"id":377616,"date":"2026-09-10T19:00:54","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T18:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/the-russia-tied-french-billionaires-opening-uks-first-historical-theme-park-explainer\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T19:00:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T18:00:54","slug":"the-russia-tied-french-billionaires-opening-uks-first-historical-theme-park-explainer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/the-russia-tied-french-billionaires-opening-uks-first-historical-theme-park-explainer\/","title":{"rendered":"The Russia-tied French billionaires opening UK&#8217;s first historical theme park \u2013 explainer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.ytimg.com\/vi\/2bzipiyxc-M\/hqdefault.jpg\" alt=\"The Russia-tied French billionaires opening UK's first historical theme park \u2013 explainer\"><br \/> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2bzipiyxc-M\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<p>French company Puy du Fou is planning a \u00a3600m history-themed park in Oxfordshire.<br \/>\nSubscribe to Guardian News on YouTube \u25ba https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/guardianwires?sub_confirmation=1<\/p>\n<p>A Guardian investigation has found the company continued working with associates of Konstantin Malofeyev, an under-sanctions pro-Kremlin oligarch, on plans for a theme park in Russian-occupied Crimea for longer than it had previously disclosed and later explored projects in Iran and China.<\/p>\n<p>Business reporter Rob Davies explains his findings, including documents that raise questions about whether Puy du Fou\u2019s activities tested the limits of EU sanctions imposed after Russia\u2019s 2014 annexation of Crimea.<\/p>\n<p>He also examines the far-right politics associated with Puy du Fou\u2019s founder, Philippe de Villiers, and asks whether the company is a suitable choice to tell Britain\u2019s national story<\/p>\n<p>Kremlin connections: the Russia links to a \u00a3600m UK theme park \u25ba https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/business\/2026\/aug\/02\/kremlin-links-new-uk-theme-park-puy-du-fou<\/p>\n<p>The Guardian publishes independent journalism, made possible by supporters. Contribute to The Guardian today \u25ba https:\/\/support.theguardian.com\/<\/p>\n<p>Sign up to the Guardian&#8217;s free new daily newsletter, First Edition \u25ba http:\/\/theguardian.com\/first-edition<\/p>\n<p>Website \u25ba https:\/\/www.theguardian.com<br \/>\nFacebook \u25bahttps:\/\/www.facebook.com\/theguardian<br \/>\nInstagram \u25ba https:\/\/instagram.com\/guardian<br \/>\nBluesky \u25ba https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/theguardian.com<\/p>\n<p>The Guardian on YouTube:<br \/>\nThe Guardian \u25ba https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@theguardian<br \/>\nGuardian Australia \u25ba https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@guardianaustralia<br \/>\nFootball Weekly \u25ba https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@footballweeklypodcast<br \/>\nToday in Focus \u25ba www.youtube.com\/@todayinfocuspodcast<br \/>\nStateside \u25ba www.youtube.com\/@statesidepodcast<br \/>\nPolitics Weekly \u25ba https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@politicsweekly<br \/>\nScience Weekly \u25ba https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@scienceweeklypod<br \/>\nGuardian Football \u25ba https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@guardianfootball<br \/>\nGuardian Sport \u25ba https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@guardiansport<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s Complicated \u25ba https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@itscomplicated<br \/>\nGuardian Live \u25ba https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@guardianlive<\/p>\n<p>#russia #kremlin #puydufou #crimea<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>French company Puy du Fou is planning a \u00a3600m history-themed park in Oxfordshire. Subscribe to Guardian News on YouTube \u25ba https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/guardianwires?sub_confirmation=1 A Guardian investigation has found the company continued working with associates of Konstantin Malofeyev, an under-sanctions pro-Kremlin oligarch, on plans for a theme park in Russian-occupied Crimea for longer than it had previously disclosed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":377617,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[128995],"tags":[],"actors":[],"class_list":["post-377616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guardian-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Russia-tied French billionaires opening UK&#039;s first historical theme park \u2013 explainer | News ISC Videos<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Watch The Russia-tied French billionaires opening UK&#039;s first historical theme park \u2013 explainer for free, here on News ISC. 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