Vladimir Putin first launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, claiming it would be a short intervention. However, it is now almost two years since the first attack and there are no signs that the war will end anytime soon.
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Due to the war lasting a lot longer than planned, the Russian army has lost more men than planned, which could have a major impact on the country’s economy. As a result, Vladimir Putin recently spoke at the World Russian People's Council and urged the women of Russia to produce more children and to bring back the tradition of having large families in Russia.
Vladimir Putin is urging women to have more children
As reported by Express, Vladimir Putin spoke in a video link at the World Russian People's Council on Tuesday, November 28, 2023. In his speech, the Russian President urged the women of Russia to have more children and that ‘a large family, should become a norm’ again.
Many of our peoples maintain the tradition of the family, where four, five or more children are raised. Recall that in Russian families our grandmothers and great-grandmothers had both 7 and 8 children. Let us preserve and revive these traditions.
He added that having a large family is the ‘foundation for state and society’ but is also a ‘spiritual phenomenon, the source of morality’.
Having many children, a large family, should become a norm, a way of life for all the people of Russia. A family is not just the foundation for state and society, it is a spiritual phenomenon, the source of morality
Putin himself allegedly has 6 children with three different women but only publicly acknowledges his two eldest daughters.
Russia’s population is decreasing
Vladimir Putin made this remark as his country’s population has reportedly decreased by 550,000since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. According to Express, some have blamed the decrease in Russia’s population on the worries that come with war, which is leaving Russians reluctant to start families.
At the moment, the average number of children per family is 1.42. However, the country’s birth rate has been stagnant since before the USSR collapsed in the early 90s, as per Express.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace has said:
Some of the objective reasons for Russia's demographic problems reflect historical dynamics: the number of women of childbearing age is falling, and the average age at which women are having children is rising steadily in modernized, urban, well-educated populations.
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Sources used:
Express: ‘Vladimir Putin demands Russian women have 'eight more children' to make up for war deaths’
