The children’s full names are not mentioned, only one text mentions “Nikita from Germany“. At least one child from Germany was apparently sitting at a round table in the Livadia Palace of the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who was present, welcomed the young people at the meeting.
Flags of their home countries stood in front of the children, the organizers called the group “Artek – the capital of children’s diplomacy” and accepted the participants into the “Friends of Russia Club” of “United Russia”. They are supposed to represent values of the Russian state in their own countries – “traditional values” – something that the Kremlin uses to continually stir up sentiment against the supposedly corrupt West.
Judging by photos and videos, the participants encountered Russian national symbols at every turn. In the camp, children who have made a particularly positive impression are allowed to raise the national flag every day. At the closing ceremony, participants from at least 60 countries held Russian flags in their hands. The most important thing that was conveyed to the participants was unity, said the director of the children’s center, Konstantin Fedorenko. “After all, our strength lies in unity.”
The camp is also about supporting Russian soldiers in Ukraine – and fighters appeared for this purpose. “Children must be shown examples of patriotism and introduced to those who speak openly about what love for the fatherland is,” says a veterans foundation. Among others, a soldier came from their ranks who was involved with the Wagner troops in the Russian conquest of Bakhmut. Artek did not answer whether meetings with soldiers were also part of the program for young people from Western Europe.
In response to a t-online inquiry about the holiday camp, the German Foreign Ministry said that a travel warning has been in effect for a long time for Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula. “German citizens are urgently asked to leave the country.” In its warning, the Foreign Office also points out that consular protection cannot currently be granted in Crimea.