In the summer, the occupied Crimea plans to celebrate the centennial of Artek on a large scale. In Soviet times, this pioneering camp was a symbol of communist propaganda. In the first years of its independence, Ukraine managed to “clean up” Artek's reputation. In 1998, it was awarded the status of a UNESCO Project of the 21st Century. The Soviet camp turned into a place of recreation, not brainwashing. The occupiers quickly “corrected” this: today, Artek is the main center for the militarization of young Crimeans.

Already in 2017, the camp hosted an event with an absurd name -  "children's military history assembly". This was the beginning of Artek's transformation into a base for the Yunarmiya (Youth Army), a movement whose goal is to raise Russian children to become obedient soldiers. And since then, the policy of ideological indoctrination of Artek children has only gained momentum. In November 2018, the camp hosted a “patriotic” event called “You and I are destined to serve Russia!” dedicated to the All-Russian Conscript Day. As part of the event, an exhibition of weapons and military equipment was held at the children's camp. The camp introduced a mandatory daily performance of the Russian anthem and raising of the Russian flag, and the recreation acquired a noticeable military bias.

However, this was not enough for the occupation authorities. In 2019, Artek was headed by Konstantin Fedorenko, the chairman of the Commission for the Preservation and Strengthening of Traditional Russian Spiritual and Moral Values. Since then, every event has been imbued with propaganda.

“There were many concert performances on our shift, and the repertoire was always specific - either something like 'Shaman' or some soviet nonsense. But I remember the farewell performance the most. We were given these blue flyers and told to raise them above our heads during the song. I noticed back then that the girls in front had red ones, and we had blue ones. It turned out that there were also white ones at the back, and when we raised them all, we got a tricolor. That's how we were just bluntly fooled us", shares his memories a young Crimean resident Serhiy, who was vacationing in Artek on the eve of the full-scale invasion.

All Russian ideological holidays in the camp are celebrated with themed events: drawings in honor of the “Day of Russia”, dances in honor of the “Flag Day”, songs in honor of the “Victory Day”. Human rights activists are convinced: “patriotic education” in Artek is a war crime. “Children receive a huge dose of Russian militarized propaganda. In our opinion, this falls under the elements of a war crime, since it is forbidden to promote service in the army of the occupying power in the occupied territory, and even more so among minors,” said Irina Sedova from the Crimean Human Rights Group.

With the outbreak of the Great War, the children's camp became even more like a military training center. Each shift has at least one “military” specialization. The children are required to write letters to the Russian military, participate in fundraising or produce some items for the Russian army. And its fighters, including representatives of the Wagner PMC, regularly come to Artek to relax at sea, and at the same time talk about “defending the homeland” and listen to the obligatory words of gratitude from children for their “happy childhood.”

At the same time, according to Crimean parents, the occupation authorities use not only the playground of the children's camp, but even the procedure for applying for a ticket to Artek for propaganda. Members of militant organizations or active participants in “patriotic” actions have the best chance of getting a vacation there. This is how Crimeans are encouraged to send their children to the most toxic brainwashing projects for the sake of a phantom opportunity to go on a prestigious vacation.

“I asked my friend why she sent her daughter to a section with a bad reputation, where children are oppressed. The answer shocked me - it turns out that almost everyone who goes there has successfully passed the selection process for Artek, because the section is connected to some kind of paramilitary structure like the DOSAAF (Volunteer Society for the Assistance to the Army, Aviation, and Navy, a paramilitary sport organization in the Soviet Union - ed.),” says Tatiana from Dzhankoy.

For those who have not yet joined the projects of large-scale militarization, a ticket to a children's center is practically unattainable, says Svetlana from Simferopol. “My children have many achievements, including at the Crimean level. I regularly submit applications on the Artek website, and every time the system completely randomly “demolishes” two diplomas out of ten. As if they do not meet the criteria after verification. At some point, I realized that it was just a scam. It has nothing to do with ratings, with verification and with the selection of really deserving children,” says the Crimean woman.

Oksana, a resident of Feodosia, agrees with this. In her opinion, there is a closed system for distributing vouchers, and everyone else can try their luck on a residual basis. “I stopped dreaming about it when I found out that my son's classmate and her sister got a voucher to Artek for the summer months. According to the general rules, only elementary school students can apply in the summer, and they were both older. But probably the fact that their father works for the FSB somehow contributed to their “luck”. Now they spend every summer there,” Oksana outraged.

The fact that the former “children's paradise” has turned into a training ground for new cannon fodder is well known in the West: the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, and now Canada have imposed sanctions on Artek. But many Crimean parents continue to want to send their children there.

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