Striptease performers in the Russian city of Rostov are donating their day's wages to a children's holiday resort in Crimea, it appears.

Sergey Semkin, the owner of a striptease club called Province, says he was shocked to see a TV report of how run-down the camp had become - so he decided he would contribute, Novaya Gazeta reports. He adds that it is striptease dancers' wages that will be donated - not the tips which make up most of their earnings.

Artek, located on Crimea's subtropical south coast, is a famous Soviet-era institution which used to be a dream resort for generations of children in the former USSR. "I wanted to go there on holiday when I was little, but alas, this was not meant to be," Semkin says.

Novaya Gazeta says the donations from the striptease dancers follow in the footsteps of councillors, officials, teachers, library workers and doctors in Rostov region, who have all donated their wages to Crimea before.

(BBC)