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| The 90-year-old Russian youth camp inflaming tensions in Crimea | The 90-year-old Russian youth camp inflaming tensions in Crimea |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| Once a dream destination for children from across the Soviet Union, the huge Crimean children’s camp Artek is one of the Kremlin’s most prized projects in the region. | Once a dream destination for children from across the Soviet Union, the huge Crimean children’s camp Artek is one of the Kremlin’s most prized projects in the region. |
| But as top Russian officials, including the prime minster, Dmitry Medvedev, flew in from Moscow last month to celebrate Artek’s 90th anniversary, several miles away residents of the small seaside town of Gurzuf were taking a grievance all the way to the president, Vladimir Putin, himself. | But as top Russian officials, including the prime minster, Dmitry Medvedev, flew in from Moscow last month to celebrate Artek’s 90th anniversary, several miles away residents of the small seaside town of Gurzuf were taking a grievance all the way to the president, Vladimir Putin, himself. |
| Artek launched an ambitious development plan in August last year, backed by 22bn roubles (£250m) in investment from the Russian state. But its neighbours along the coast claim that the camp was illegally granted 10 hectares of the town’s cherished seaside property after the annexation of Crimea last year. | Artek launched an ambitious development plan in August last year, backed by 22bn roubles (£250m) in investment from the Russian state. But its neighbours along the coast claim that the camp was illegally granted 10 hectares of the town’s cherished seaside property after the annexation of Crimea last year. |
| Related: Russia celebrates anniversary of Crimea takeover – and eyes second annexation | Related: Russia celebrates anniversary of Crimea takeover – and eyes second annexation |
| In a campaign to reclaim the land, a grassroots protest movement of a kind rarely seen in Russia has taken the grievance to the courts. | In a campaign to reclaim the land, a grassroots protest movement of a kind rarely seen in Russia has taken the grievance to the courts. |
| “We tried to appeal to Putin over people’s heads. He has been known to stand up for the rights of minorities,” said Yury Skorik, Gurzuf resident and unofficial leader of the protests. | “We tried to appeal to Putin over people’s heads. He has been known to stand up for the rights of minorities,” said Yury Skorik, Gurzuf resident and unofficial leader of the protests. |
| Illegal | Illegal |
| Artek occupies an area larger than Monaco, camp director Alexei Kasprzhak noted in a special edition of the Russian history magazine Diletant. But Gurzuf residents say only 208 hectares ever belonged to the camp. An additional 10 hectares, they claim, were added and illegally signed away when the new Crimean authorities handed Artek over to Russia. | Artek occupies an area larger than Monaco, camp director Alexei Kasprzhak noted in a special edition of the Russian history magazine Diletant. But Gurzuf residents say only 208 hectares ever belonged to the camp. An additional 10 hectares, they claim, were added and illegally signed away when the new Crimean authorities handed Artek over to Russia. |
| To locals, the land is known as known as Gurovskiye Kamni. It slopes down from Gurzuf’s central road to a small pebble beach that has been a favoured spot for decades. | To locals, the land is known as known as Gurovskiye Kamni. It slopes down from Gurzuf’s central road to a small pebble beach that has been a favoured spot for decades. |
| They say Artek previously leased Gurovskiye Kamni under an agreement with the local authorities. Flanked by youth camps on either side, the area was never built on and visitors were allowed to come and go as they pleased when the territory was under Ukrainian rule, they say. | They say Artek previously leased Gurovskiye Kamni under an agreement with the local authorities. Flanked by youth camps on either side, the area was never built on and visitors were allowed to come and go as they pleased when the territory was under Ukrainian rule, they say. |
| But since the annexation , guards employed by Artek – often armed, locals claim – have started patrolling the camp’s borders and barring access to anyone without a special permit. | But since the annexation , guards employed by Artek – often armed, locals claim – have started patrolling the camp’s borders and barring access to anyone without a special permit. |
| “It’s about time [the residents of Gurzuf] get used to the idea that in a place where children are vacationing, it is inappropriate to walk your dog, drink beer under every shrub and build campfires,” Kasprzhak told Moscow-based tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets. | “It’s about time [the residents of Gurzuf] get used to the idea that in a place where children are vacationing, it is inappropriate to walk your dog, drink beer under every shrub and build campfires,” Kasprzhak told Moscow-based tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets. |
| For residents, Artek’s prohibitive policing is too restrictive. “We want to be able to look at the Black Sea, not through a gate [and] not past guards or policemen. Everyone should have free access,” one resident said. | For residents, Artek’s prohibitive policing is too restrictive. “We want to be able to look at the Black Sea, not through a gate [and] not past guards or policemen. Everyone should have free access,” one resident said. |
| ‘Not our job’ | ‘Not our job’ |
| The camp’s management and the protesters agree on one thing: the fate of Gurzuf’s residents should not lie in Artek’s hands. | The camp’s management and the protesters agree on one thing: the fate of Gurzuf’s residents should not lie in Artek’s hands. |
| “[The issue of residents’ access to the coast] is not Artek’s problem but that of the town’s municipal authorities,” Kasprzhak said . | “[The issue of residents’ access to the coast] is not Artek’s problem but that of the town’s municipal authorities,” Kasprzhak said . |
| The anger among Gurzuf’s residents reflects the resentment felt by many Crimeans at seeing their seafront steadily swallowed up by resorts and other businesses. Despite a slump in visitors since the annexation, Russian news channel RIA Novosti has projected 125bn roubles will be spent by tourists in the peninsula this summer. | |
| With the landbridge to Ukraine sealed by border guards, sanction-hit Crimea is looking to Russian visitors to keep its hotels full. In March Crimea’s tourism minister Yelena Yurchenko said the region was expecting to welcome 4.3 million tourists – “most of them from Russia”. | With the landbridge to Ukraine sealed by border guards, sanction-hit Crimea is looking to Russian visitors to keep its hotels full. In March Crimea’s tourism minister Yelena Yurchenko said the region was expecting to welcome 4.3 million tourists – “most of them from Russia”. |
| Related: Ukraine's last resort: discovering the real Crimea | Related: Ukraine's last resort: discovering the real Crimea |
| Residents say that local authorities have been too scared to pick a fight with the Kremlin-favoured camp since it came into Russia’s possession. “Artek is a hefty figure on the chessboard. No one wants to lock horns with them. They’re scared they will lose,” Skorik said. | Residents say that local authorities have been too scared to pick a fight with the Kremlin-favoured camp since it came into Russia’s possession. “Artek is a hefty figure on the chessboard. No one wants to lock horns with them. They’re scared they will lose,” Skorik said. |
| The camp’s 35-year old CEO and director, Alexei Kasprzhak, brought in just months after the annexation has big plans for the Russian resort. The camp’s projected attendance turnover for 2020 is 40,000 teenagers, Moskovsky Komsomolets reports – roughly double the amount number of visitors recorded in 1990, a year before the fall of the Soviet Union. | The camp’s 35-year old CEO and director, Alexei Kasprzhak, brought in just months after the annexation has big plans for the Russian resort. The camp’s projected attendance turnover for 2020 is 40,000 teenagers, Moskovsky Komsomolets reports – roughly double the amount number of visitors recorded in 1990, a year before the fall of the Soviet Union. |
| “In 10 years, in every grade of every Russian school there will be at least one Artekovite,” Kasprzhak wrote in his article for Diletant. | “In 10 years, in every grade of every Russian school there will be at least one Artekovite,” Kasprzhak wrote in his article for Diletant. |
| Outlining his plans to build a second school, the camp’s director said it could become “an alternative to traditional schools” that will enable teachers and students to experiment with new teaching techniques and technologies. | Outlining his plans to build a second school, the camp’s director said it could become “an alternative to traditional schools” that will enable teachers and students to experiment with new teaching techniques and technologies. |
| To complete its ambitious development plan, Artek will need all the space it can get. But with a natural barrier in the form of the Ayu-Dag mountain to the camp’s east, Artek has little room to grow other than west – toward Gurzuf. | To complete its ambitious development plan, Artek will need all the space it can get. But with a natural barrier in the form of the Ayu-Dag mountain to the camp’s east, Artek has little room to grow other than west – toward Gurzuf. |
| Adding insult to injury, residents have seen little to no benefit from the 22bn rouble injection of state funds meant to resuscitate Artek. | Adding insult to injury, residents have seen little to no benefit from the 22bn rouble injection of state funds meant to resuscitate Artek. |
| A 140m rouble tender to provide the camp with linen and uniforms was given to Russian sportswear giant Bosco, rather than a local company, it was reported, and other sources claim that 1,500 workers risk losing their jobs under the new management. | A 140m rouble tender to provide the camp with linen and uniforms was given to Russian sportswear giant Bosco, rather than a local company, it was reported, and other sources claim that 1,500 workers risk losing their jobs under the new management. |
| “[Artek] will become a little piece of heaven. But what about those of us right next to heaven?” Skorik asked. | “[Artek] will become a little piece of heaven. But what about those of us right next to heaven?” Skorik asked. |
| Artek will become a little piece of heaven. But what about those of us right next to heaven? | Artek will become a little piece of heaven. But what about those of us right next to heaven? |
| From Castro and Gagarin, to Putin | From Castro and Gagarin, to Putin |
| With the camp’s motto “Artekovite forever” in their memories, generations of Russians who stayed at the Black Sea resort in their youth applauded the camp’s return after Putin signed the Crimea annexation from Ukraine in March last year – Moskovsky Komsomolets went so far as to call Artek “the fairytale camp where dreams come true”. | With the camp’s motto “Artekovite forever” in their memories, generations of Russians who stayed at the Black Sea resort in their youth applauded the camp’s return after Putin signed the Crimea annexation from Ukraine in March last year – Moskovsky Komsomolets went so far as to call Artek “the fairytale camp where dreams come true”. |
| Founded in 1925, the camp’s stated aim was to “educate the citizens of a socialist society”, and is described by historian Margaret Peacock as the most popular of all Soviet summer resorts. | Founded in 1925, the camp’s stated aim was to “educate the citizens of a socialist society”, and is described by historian Margaret Peacock as the most popular of all Soviet summer resorts. |
| Hosting elite members of the Young Pioneers, the Communist Party youth group, the resort also received dignitaries from Fidel Castro to Ho Chi Minh to India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who all visited the camp in its heyday. Even Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin went several times between 1961 and 1967, on his final visit inaugurating the camp’s own space museum. | Hosting elite members of the Young Pioneers, the Communist Party youth group, the resort also received dignitaries from Fidel Castro to Ho Chi Minh to India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who all visited the camp in its heyday. Even Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin went several times between 1961 and 1967, on his final visit inaugurating the camp’s own space museum. |
| Making use of a rising wave of Russian patriotism – and the nostalgia Artek evokes – Gurzuf’s residents have appealed directly to Putin to turn Gurovskiye Kamni, the contested stretch of beachfront, into a public park in honour of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany (Gurzuf is in the province of Yalta, where Stalin met with the other allied leaders at the close of the second world war to discuss Europe post-Hitler). | Making use of a rising wave of Russian patriotism – and the nostalgia Artek evokes – Gurzuf’s residents have appealed directly to Putin to turn Gurovskiye Kamni, the contested stretch of beachfront, into a public park in honour of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany (Gurzuf is in the province of Yalta, where Stalin met with the other allied leaders at the close of the second world war to discuss Europe post-Hitler). |
| Related: Ukraine crisis: an essential guide to everything that's happened so far | Related: Ukraine crisis: an essential guide to everything that's happened so far |
| But with no sign of a direct intervention by the Russian president, Skorik says that he and his supporters are now taking the matter to court. A lawsuit will be filed against the federal body that registered Artek as owning 218 hectares of land instead of 208 hectares “any day now”, according to Skorik. | But with no sign of a direct intervention by the Russian president, Skorik says that he and his supporters are now taking the matter to court. A lawsuit will be filed against the federal body that registered Artek as owning 218 hectares of land instead of 208 hectares “any day now”, according to Skorik. |
| In the meantime, Artek’s management has promised to allow residents access to the contested area until the next summer season – a concession Gurzuf’s residents see as a sign of future victory. | In the meantime, Artek’s management has promised to allow residents access to the contested area until the next summer season – a concession Gurzuf’s residents see as a sign of future victory. |
| A version of this article originally appeared in The Moscow Times | A version of this article originally appeared in The Moscow Times |
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