German children spotted in Artek children's camp in occupied Crimea

Children from Germany were spotted in the Artek children's camp in Russia-occupied Crimea. Berlin officially recognises the peninsula as Ukraine's territory.

German portal t-online found out that children from Germany, as well as, likely, Finland and France, spent three weeks in annexed Crimea. The Finnish media drew attention to this first, and t-online managed to find confirmation on Artek's pages and in Russian propaganda reports.

"The [Kremlin-aligned Russian channel] RT, various participants and organisations also disseminated images and information featuring the young people from Germany. The Russian House in Paris also posted pictures," the article says.

While at Artek, the German children interacted with representatives of Vladimir Putin's United Russia party and Russian military personnel involved in war crimes in Ukraine.

It remains unclear how the children from Germany reached annexed Crimea, which Berlin recognises as Ukrainian territory. Crimea can be entered legally only from Ukrainian-controlled territory.

T-online reports that there have been no other recorded visits of children from Germany to Artek in recent years. However, in 2017, the Russian state-run channel RT mentioned that 10 children from Berlin and Saxony had visited the facility accompanied by a teacher from Berlin.

Earlier, reports indicated that former Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib visited occupied Crimea in 2021 when she worked as a journalist.