In February 2014, thousands of “little green men”—Russian soldiers wearing unmarked uniforms—poured into Crimea, taking over military bases and key infrastructure. Their arrival marked the start of Vladimir Putin’s annexation of the peninsula, an operation that eventually grew into the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In the months after the Crimean incursion, Washington and Brussels imposed sanctions on many of Putin’s allies for allegedly supporting the attack. One of those was Konstantin Malofeyev, a media mogul with a thick beard whose far-right, ultranationalist views earned him the nickname the “Orthodox oligarch.”
While the West pushed back, one powerful French family took a different approach, offering friendship to Moscow and to Malofeyev.
Konstantin Malofeyev is the founder of Tsargrad, a pro-Kremlin television channel. Photograph: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images
A month after EU sanctions on Malofeyev took effect, Philippe and Nicolas de Villiers—the father-and-son team behind Puy du Fou, a globally famous theme park company—traveled to Yalta, Crimea’s historic Black Sea resort. In the grandeur of the Livadia Palace, where Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill had once shaped the post-World War II order, De Villiers Sr. and Putin discussed the French company’s plans for two new parks. These venues, one of which was in newly occupied Ukrainian territory, were to be a joint venture with Malofeyev and would “highlight Russia’s history and the significance of Russia’s soul.”
In the end, those grand plans never came to fruition. Puy du Fou has now set its sights on other horizons. Within days, it is expected to get planning approval for a £600m park in rural Oxfordshire, featuring re-enactments, mock medieval castles, themed villages, hotels, and restaurants.
Map showing the planned Puy du Fou UK theme park
But even as the company prepares to dramatize more than 1,000 years of British history, new evidence raises questions about how the firm portrays its own past. Puy du Fou has previously downplayed its earlier flirtation with Russia and Malofeyev, claiming it began winding down the partnership once EU sanctions were imposed in July 2014. However, new documents seen by the Guardian suggest the relationship continued for many more months and may, according to experts, have pushed the limits of EU sanctions. They also raise questions about the family’s willingness to work with other autocratic regimes.
The documents reveal:
– Puy du Fou worked with Malofeyev’s company until August 2015.
– The French company made payments to a key Malofeyev aide.
– Executives discussed the risk of breaching sanctions.
– When the plan collapsed, Puy du Fou turned to new horizons, including Iran.
– The Chinese Communist party had script approval for a Shanghai park.
To Russia with Love
“When I see the spiral of sanctions and counter-sanctions, I think European leaders are irresponsible,” Philippe de Villiers, then 65, told French radio station RTL in August 2014. “I would gladly swap [French leaders François] Hollande and [Nicolas] Sarkozy for Putin,” he added. A 34-year-old Nicolas put it more romantically: “He [Putin] is different from how we expected. He has sweet words and sweet eyes.”
Emmanuel Macron with Nicolas and Philippe de Villiers at Puy du Fou in 2016. Photograph: Loïc Venance/AFP/Getty
Fresh from being charmed in Yalta, both men said their dream of expanding the business into Russia need not be derailed by the increasingly tense relations between Moscow and the West. New evidence seen by the Guardian offers some insight into the partnership they had been building. At least one of the parks was to be named Tsargrad (meaning “Imperial City”), the same name Malofeyev uses for his own media company.
A ‘term sheet’ document governing a 50:50 venture cCalled Puy du Fou Tsargrad. Nicolas de Villiers and Malofeyev had already signed a “term sheet” for a 50:50 joint venture named Puy du Fou Tsargrad, according to a document seen by the Guardian.
The timing of the agreement, signed on 12 July 2014, could not have been worse. On 30 July 2014, the Orthodox oligarch was placed under EU sanctions over his alleged financial backing for the annexation of Crimea. The sanctions were meant to use Western economic power to punish those allegedly involved in the Crimean incursion and to discourage further aggression.
Puy du Fou told the Guardian that the sanctions ended the partnership. “As the sanctions regime began to be implemented in waves, we stopped working with a now-sanctioned individual who had been introduced to us as a local partner. When it became clear that the wider international effort was stalled and not improving, we rightly decided we did not want to be involved in Russia. So we withdrew from all potential projects and partners there, which took a little over a year to unwind in an orderly way.”
Material seen by the Guardian appears to show an ongoing relationship with Malofeyev’s associates, aimed at keeping the project alive.
In bed with an oligarch
In September 2014, two months after Malofeyev was sanctioned, Puy du Fou staff circulated an internal document outlining how the Tsargrad project might be restructured to reflect the geopolitical situation. Organisational charts showed Malofeyev providing startup funding and short-term loans to a Russian entity, Tsargrad Puy du Fou LLC, which would pay operating proceeds into a bank account held by Puy du Fou International. Notes attached to the document refer to using Russian roubles to “avoid probable effect of sanctions.”
Phase two of the scheme, according to the document, would involve the Russian entity being placed within an offshore company jointly owned by Malofeyev and Puy du Fou. The offshore company would hold the intellectual property to the park’s carefully scripted shows and collect dividends from Tsargrad’s earnings, distributing them to Puy du Fou and Malofeyev. Another chart in the same document indicated that Malofeyev could remain a “minority shareholder” in a fund owning 50% of the offshore entity.
Internal correspondence seems to suggest that Puy du Fou was aware of the risks of the reorganisation, telling its Russian partners in 2014 that it approved of the scheme but was wary of “the international context and the issue of sanctions,” which could expose the company to penalties. There is no evidence that this structure was ever put in place.
But documents suggest that financial transactions with Malofeyev’s associates continued into 2015, funding activity that appeared to assume the project would go ahead as planned.
A January 2015 budget document, seen by the Guardian, indicates that Puy du Fou continued casting actors for the project, even hiring a sports hall in Russia to stage auditions. The 23.5 million rouble (almost £500,000) budget included itemised sums for office rental, staff payments, and 75 wristwatches engraved with the Tsargrad Puy du Fou logo, described as “gifts.” Most payments were dated 31 January 2015, while at least one appears to cover a period up until April 2015.
Puy du Fou said: “There have inevitably been some low-level supplier or consultancy fees on either side, as one cannot explore an international project for free. These have never been with any sanctioned entity, in compliance with French and EU law.”
Internal records raise questions about how Puy du Fou complied with sanctions law. They suggest that some transactions took place not directly with Malofeyev but with a business called MarMarket capitalization (MarCap).
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The Viking show at the Puy du Fou theme park in Les Epesses, France. Photograph: Dimitri Carol/Alamy
When the US followed the EU in placing Malofeyev under sanctions in December 2014, it also imposed restrictions on MarCap because of the Orthodox oligarch’s role as its managing partner.
Records show that payments to MarCap employees during 2015 were funded, at least in part, by Puy du Fou.
The French company’s main point of contact for ongoing discussions about the project and its budget, according to documents, was Yury Leonov, a MarCap employee and a key subordinate of Malofeyev.
Correspondence with Leonov continued into July 2015, when he wrote directly to Nicolas de Villiers to discuss “payment of January’s invoice.”
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An email header showing correspondence from July 2015, with Oleg Ochinsky copied in.
Email exchanges between Puy du Fou staff in July and August were also copied to Oleg Ochinsky, a known business associate of Malofeyev, who was described in one internal document as Malofeyev’s “DG,” understood to mean “general director.”
One such email, sent in July 2015—a year after Puy du Fou claims to have begun winding down its project—had the subject line “meteorological studies.”
Puy du Fou does not appear to have made a final decision to end its association with Leonov, Ochinsky, and the Tsargrad project until at least August 2015.
Michael Ruck, a partner and sanctions expert at the law firm K&L Gates, said: “The circumstances in this matter appear to raise questions in relation to sanctions compliance and whether the relevant restrictions would prohibit any of the ongoing activities.
When sanctions are imposed and a person or organization is designated, the relevant restrictions apply immediately. There is no automatic wind-down period, and any transactions that breach the sanctions restrictions are prohibited unless a specific licence or derogation is issued providing for such a wind-down period.”
Puy du Fou declined to answer whether it obtained such a licence.
It did not address the apparent transactions with MarCap employees or why it discussed “meteorological studies” with Leonov on a project that was winding down. The company said it had been “caught off guard by the rapid deterioration of the geopolitical situation in Russia and Crimea.”
“Quite properly we cancelled this initiative once attempts to de-escalate the conflict had clearly failed and the international sanctions regime was being properly established,” it added.
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Philippe de Villiers at an anti-abortion rally in Paris in January 2025. Photograph: Bastien Ohier/Hans Lucas/AFP/Getty Images
If Philippe de Villiers found it hard to break from Malofeyev, the reasons were as much cultural as financial.
There was a natural kinship between the French politician and the Orthodox oligarch, underpinned by faith and a brand of far-right politics deeply suspicious of groups such as Muslims and LGBT people.
Philippe de Villiers is a career politician, a former minister in the government of Jacques Chirac who once harboured presidential ambitions and is celebrated as a hero by many in the Vendée region of western France, where Puy du Fou is based.
He founded his own party, Mouvement pour la France, in 1994. The MPF’s manifesto included a ban on the construction of new mosques and a prohibition on gay marriage and same-sex adoption.
As a leading figure in the far right in France, he has declared Islam incompatible with the French Republic and railed against LGBTQ+ rights. He is no longer involved in running the Puy du Fou business but remains a director.
Critics, including left-leaning historians in France, have claimed that the family’s deeply traditionalist Catholic worldview has skewed the version of history depicted at Puy du Fou.
Disneyland for dictators
In promotional material on its website, Puy du Fou sets out its ambition to “conquer the world,” a mThe company has expanded into projects across the globe, from Singapore to Spain and India to Italy. In 2024, it launched a temporary City of Light show in Shanghai, bringing its unique style of immersive theater to China. Visitors wore red cloaks and took part in an interactive adventure set in the 1930s, where they could get close to actors performing choreographed fights and musical numbers.
Puy du Fou’s success has always relied on its scripts, the first of which were written by De Villiers Sr. These scripts turn simple reenactments into gripping theater, making them perhaps the company’s most valuable asset.
In China, the Guardian has learned that the company seemed willing to let Beijing officials, rather than its own team, have the final say on the scripts. Internal messages reviewed by the Guardian show senior executives complaining about “government control of scripts” but appearing to accept it as unavoidable.
Puy du Fou responded: “As with any project in any country, there is a legal approval process, and in China this includes showing scripts to the relevant authorities for prior approval. To be absolutely clear, no individual or authority in China ever wrote or controlled any Puy du Fou scripts.”
China was just one of Puy du Fou’s international ventures. Another proposed partnership might be surprising, given Philippe de Villiers’ views on Islam. A letter seen by the Guardian, first published by the French satirical magazine Le Canard enchaîné, shows the company courting Iran’s theocracy. Sent in 2016 by Philippe de Villiers to Iran’s ambassador to France, the letter expresses interest in a project that would highlight the “cultural refinement and historical depth of this great civilization.”
Puy du Fou said: “In 2016, when sanctions on Iran were being lifted and many international companies were looking to invest there again, the Iranian ambassador approached Puy du Fou to see if we were interested in a project. After what Puy du Fou described as a ‘very preliminary initial engagement,’ the Iran plan was dropped, like the Tsargrad project.”
Today, despite the De Villiers’ sometimes controversial past, Puy du Fou’s international ambitions are thriving. A Spanish park opened in 2021 is doing well, and Puy du Fou is now preparing for its biggest international venture yet: conquering Britain. Visit Britain, the tourist authority, has backed the project, as has the UK government. Planning approval is expected within weeks, with the opening set for 2029.
But as the first visitors arrive to experience British history as told by Puy du Fou, questions remain about the story this French institution tells about itself. This article was amended on 2 August 2026. An earlier version stated that Puy du Fou expressed concerns about a proposed company reorganization in September 2022; in fact, this was in 2014.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs regarding the reported Kremlin connections to a 600m UK theme park project
BeginnerLevel Questions
1 What is this 600m UK theme park project
Its a proposed multimillionpound entertainment resort planned for the UK often dubbed a British Disneyland The specific project in question is the London Resort in Kent which has been in the planning stages for years
2 What are the Kremlin connections everyone is talking about
Reports suggest that the financial backers or key investors behind the project have links to Russian oligarchs or entities with close ties to the Kremlin This has raised concerns about where the money is coming from and whether there are hidden political influences
3 Does this mean the Russian government owns the theme park
No The Kremlin does not directly own the park The concern is about indirect linksfor example if a major investor is a Russian billionaire with close personal ties to Vladimir Putin or if the funding is routed through companies with opaque ownership structures
4 Why does it matter who invests in a theme park
It matters for national security and financial transparency If the money comes from individuals or entities under international sanctions it could be illegal It also raises questions about political influence money laundering and whether the UK is inadvertently providing a safe haven for dirty money
5 Is the theme park actually being built
As of now the project has faced multiple delays and legal challenges The future of the London Resort is uncertain and these funding concerns have added another layer of difficulty to getting it approved and financed
AdvancedLevel Questions
6 Who are the specific Russian figures linked to the project
Investigative reports have pointed to Yevgeny Chichvarkin a former Russian mobile phone tycoon and cofounder of the London Resort While he is a critic of Putin his business partners and the sources of the investment funds have been scrutinized Other reports have linked the financing to companies connected to Roman Abramovich or other sanctioned individuals though these links are often denied or complex
7 How does the UKs National Security and Investment Act apply to this
The UK government can intervene in deals that pose a risk to national security If the theme park is deemed a critical piece
