A derelict Young Pioneer summer camp

A rather well-preserved Young Pioneer camp called “Yunost“ is spread out on the left shore of the Mocha River.
The “Yunost“ camp used to belong to Lyublino casting and mechanical plant and haven’t been used for a long time.

Let’s start the tour in a distant part of the premises.

The warehouses are locked up and it seems like they are still being used. The security guard has made up a scarecrow next to them in order to repel thieves.

There is a washhouse with showers and a hydraulic power unit in the corner.

The showers took up the whole ground floor, but the upper floor was much more interesting. There was a sports equipment storage space.

Also, children’s gas masks were stored in designated shelves.

But the most fascinating thing is Soviet winter sports gear.

Here are some ice skates.

And hockey sticks, of course.

And all kinds of protective gear.

The next room is a ski storage.

A big pile of old and uncomfortable ski boots.

All kinds of ski brands are present in here, just like in a Soviet sports equipment store.

The skis are made in the Russian SFSR and other Union and socialist republics.

These boots could only be worn with thick woolen socks, but no other options were available.

The building with the cafeteria and the club is the most interesting part of the camp.

That’s what it all looked like in 1998, when there still was life here.

The kitchen and the dining hall are located on the upper floor.

There is a service elevator for delivering groceries from the ground floor.

The large hall is decorated with painted ornaments.

The stairs with pictures of animals on the walls lead from the dining hall to the ground floor.

In the lower level there were all kinds of clubs. Multiple handmade items are abandoned and scattered around down there.

The camp celebrated Moscow’s 850th anniversary with great enthusiasm 17 years ago.

There are more reminders of that event here than in the city itself.

We found a wardrobe department and a decorator room that were in a complete mess next to this one.

Next to this room there is an equipment, sports gear, pennant and game set storage.

Many Soviet award pennants can be found here. However, most of them are ruined by mold and moisture.

Record players, tape recorders, electronic educational kits.

An audio control console, some books for youth leaders.

Photographic enlargers. There was a great photography club in this camp.

At the end of the hallway there was a library. Piles of children’s books are abandoned and are rotting away.

An album honoring Uncle Lenin made by children.

The following generations, however, didn’t show much respect for the former leader.

They made a noose around the neck of the torn down head. I took at off and tossed it aside. I don’t approve of such blasphemy.

On this table there are a few quite basic cameras that used to belong to the photography club and have survived to this day.

And finally, the most impressive place in the camp – the cinema hall.

Surprisingly little has changed since 1998. Here are some shots from a film found in the camp.

Images by Deletant, reproduced with permission