It was once the summer destination for the brightest and best children of the former Soviet Union but it slipped into disuse and decay after the socialist empire crumbled.
Now, however, showpiece holiday camp Artek in Crimea has reopened under Russian control after Moscow grabbed the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine — and it is once again aiming to shape a new generation.
In an idyllic setting of cypress trees, magnolias and 7km of pebble beaches, Artek welcomed only the cream of the former communist youth organizations, the Young Pioneers and the Komsomol, aged from 10 to about 17.
Photo: AFP
After the end of the Soviet Union, the camp was taken over by Ukraine’s independent authorities but gradually fell into disrepair.
However, that all changed after the Kremlin seized the region from Kiev last year — and now 20,000 young Russians are set to holiday here this summer.
First opened in 1925 on Lenin’s suggestion, the Russian government is now allocating about US$410 million to refurbish the camp between now and 2020.
The aim is to turn it into a “national symbol of Russia — like the ballet or the Hermitage museum” in Saint Petersburg, the new 35-year-old director, Alexei Kasprzhak, told reporters.
For 95 percent of those who stay at the camp, it is free. They win the trip as a reward for taking top places in national competitions in school subjects from maths to Russian literature, or for excelling in sports or dance. The first began arriving in April.
“Artek has become Russian again. That makes me so happy,” said one of the first to stay there, 14-year-old Mikhail, adjusting his sailor’s hat.
“Deep down, I’m a Young Pioneer too, like my parents were, even if I don’t wear a red kerchief,” said Mikhail, who won first prize in maths at a competition in Ulan-Ude in Buryatia, a largely Buddhist Siberian region.
When it was founded, the camp was initially for children suffering from tuberculosis, but then grew into an ideologically charged project to cultivate a new kind of Soviet citizen.
Its impressive facilities and the chance to meet the children of international Soviet sympathizers made it a cult destination for generations.
Books, films and hit songs of the period talked about “friendship born at Artek.” Even today, streets, cinemas and ships bear the camp’s name.
At the entrance now, a faded sign still announces that the 230-hectare site — larger than Monaco — is part of a Ukrainian national park. Along with the Crimea region itself and everything on it, Ukraine insists the camp has been stolen by Russia. On the same placard, however, the Ukrainian national emblem has been painted over with the Russian tricolour.
“The children have to relearn how to live with different people, to reconnect with the spirit of internationalism and collectivism of that era,” camp director Kasprzhak said.
However “this is absolutely not about going back to the past,” he added.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was