How Kremlin exploits children in “Artek” for international propaganda
In temporarily occupied Crimea, the Russians are using the “Artek” children’s camp to spread their propaganda.
▫️Recently, at “Artek,” which has been sanctioned by Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council as a propaganda and ideological hub, the Russians staged a large-scale propaganda event.
The occupation administration of “Artek,” with the involvement of senior Russian Foreign Ministry officials, organized a Soviet-style spectacle in which children from 67 countries signed a declaration to the UN calling for “an end to armed conflicts,” and urged world leaders to “recognize shared responsibility for the future of the planet.”
Most of the children involved came from countries of the Global South considered “friendly” to Russia.
Russian propaganda systematically uses children in occupied Crimea to promote lies about a supposedly “peace-loving Russia that is a victim of Western aggression,” “Ukrainian Nazis,” and other false narratives. In doing so, the Kremlin seeks to justify its war against Ukraine on the international stage and push its aggressive imperial worldview.
