Unsanitary conditions, unfit shelters and overcrowded rooms for children: what monitoring found at Artek camps in Zakarpattia
Following inspections of two Artek facilities, the Secretariat of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights is awaiting responses from the responsible authorities. Once received, the Secretariat will decide whether the actions of officials and staff members contain elements of criminal offences and whether the relevant information should be referred to law enforcement agencies.
This is stated in the Secretariat’s response to a request from Censor.NET.
Food-related violations
The Secretariat provided a detailed description of the violations recorded by the monitoring group during its visits to Artek Zakarpattia and the Artek International Children’s Centre.
Violations of children’s rights related to food provision were recorded at both facilities. An inspection of the catering facilities found food stored in breach of food-storage compatibility requirements. Flies were present in food preparation areas, while spoiled and rotten fruit and vegetables were stored alongside fresh produce. The monitors also found that food was distributed inefficiently after procurement.
According to the monitoring group, the sanitary condition of the catering facilities did not meet the applicable standards: the premises require thorough cleaning and major repairs. No separate menu had been developed for children requiring special diets on medical grounds, even though such children were staying at the facilities.
Overcrowding, mould and lack of basic conditions
- At Artek Zakarpattia, 12 children share rooms containing six bunk beds and one chest of drawers for personal belongings. The furniture, mattresses, blankets, pillows and bed linen are heavily worn and require replacement. There are no wardrobes or bedside tables, so the children keep their personal belongings in suitcases. Mould and fungal growth were also found in the rooms.
- At the Artek International Children’s Centre, seven or eight children share some rooms. However, regulations stipulate that rooms should accommodate no more than five primary-school-age children or four middle- and upper-school-age children.
- Temperatures in some residential rooms were also found to range from 26°C to 35°C. The rooms are not equipped with air conditioners. In some rooms, children cannot open the windows themselves because the window handles are missing.
At Artek Zakarpattia, monitors also found that there were no fixed electrical sockets or light switches in the rooms, with the lighting controlled from the corridor. Children use extension leads to charge mobile phones and other electrical devices, creating an additional fire risk and indicating that the premises do not comply with fire safety requirements.
Showers, toilets and water
Only one shower room (with three shower cubicles) and one toilet room are operational on each floor of the residential building. As a result, almost 300 children have access to only eight shower cubicles for girls (on the first and third floors) and eight for boys (on the second and fourth floors), although children of both sexes live on every floor of the building. Water is not available around the clock but only during designated hours, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. At the same time, lights-out at the facility is at 9:30 p.m., effectively limiting the children’s ability to use the showers in the evening.
The shower cubicles are separated only by curtains, which do not provide an adequate level of privacy, while the low partitions between toilet cubicles do not allow children privacy when using the sanitary facilities.
Unfit shelters and air-raid alerts ignored
The most critical issue concerns safety during enemy air attacks:
- At Artek Zakarpattia, the shelter is officially designed to accommodate 300 people, according to an inspection report dated 29 August 2025. However, during the monitoring visit, the actual condition of the protective facility was found not to correspond to this information: high humidity, dampness and mould were recorded, while the premises had no furniture or seating.
- During confidential conversations, children said they generally remained inside the facility under the "two-wall rule" during air-raid alerts instead of proceeding to the shelter.
- The shelter at the Artek International Children’s Centre can accommodate 770 people, while the facility itself hosts 1,100 children. Its capacity is therefore insufficient to shelter all the children simultaneously.
Neglected infrastructure
The playgrounds are in unsatisfactory condition: some swings have been cordoned off with warning tape because they are unsafe. There are abandoned buildings on the grounds, while the pedestrian paths do not allow children to move around safely.
The swimming pool is technically defective and cannot be used for its intended purpose. Of the wellness facilities, only the salt room is operational.
What happens next?
Following the inspections, the Secretariat of the Commissioner sent a letter to the Ministry of Social Policy, Family and Unity of Ukraine. A response is still pending.
Letters were also sent to the head of the Zakarpattia Regional State/Military Administration and the head of the Main Department of the National Social Service of Ukraine in Zakarpattia region, requesting response measures concerning possible violations of children’s rights at Artek Zakarpattia. The administrations of the facilities and other authorised bodies are being sent reports detailing the established facts, a legal assessment of the violations and recommendations for remedying them.
Background
- Earlier, it was reported that children from Vyshneve in Kyiv region who were sent to the Artek camp in Zakarpattia for recuperation following a Russian attack on their city had complained about poor sanitary conditions, inadequate recreational activities and mistreatment by camp counsellors.
- The Zakarpattia Regional Prosecutor’s Office said it was examining media reports about the conditions in which minors from Vyshneve were staying at the children’s camp.
