Vacationing with a machine gun: Russia increases funding for children's camps in Crimea

In 2025, the Russian Federation dramatically increased funding for summer recreation in the occupied Crimea. Children's camps have actually been turned into centers of propaganda and military training.

Denys Chistikov , Deputy Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, said this in a commentary to Suspilne Krym.

According to him, the largest budgetary injections this year were directed to Crimean summer camps. They are used not only for children from the occupied peninsula, but also for teenagers taken from the temporarily occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. In particular, children were taken en masse to the Artek camp, where their stay under the guise of recreation is combined with ideological processing and elements of military training.

According to available information, Russian military personnel who participated in the war against Ukraine are involved in working with children in the camps. At the same time, children's cell phones are confiscated to limit the possibility of recording propaganda activities or complaints about the conditions of stay.

A similar practice, according to the Ukrainian side, applies to schools in occupied Crimea. Educational institutions are increasingly being used as a tool to build loyalty to the occupation authorities and train future military personnel.

Chistikov also pointed out that the continuation of mobilization in Russia indicates significant losses of the army. Despite the Kremlin's attempts to create the impression of mass voluntary signing of contracts, mobilization measures are causing increasing discontent in society. This is especially noticeable on the eve of the presidential elections in Russia scheduled for 2026.

Also in Saki, the occupiers used the territory of the church as a shooting range for children. Bars-Krym militants, together with local priests, taught "Orthodox trackers" how to handle assault rifles.

Анна Бальчінос