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The birth rate in Russia has reached a new negative record this year. The Kremlin is running out of young people. And so the government wants to make Russian women give birth above all else. They should forget about their education and career.
The birth rate in Russia has been falling inexorably and rapidly for years. At the beginning of this year, the Russian statistics agency Rosstat recorded a negative record. Between January and April 2023, 3.1 percent fewer children were born than in the same period last year. The war in Ukraine has also led to an exodus of young people in particular. Russia’s total population shrank by at least 524,000 people last year to around 146.4 million. And these are just the official data from Russian authorities, which, according to independent assessments, are considered far too low. According to estimates by the New York Times, at least 120,000 Russian soldiers died in the war against Ukraine alone.
The Kremlin urgently needs new blood. The Russian government is simply running out of human material – the Putin regime views its own population in exactly the same way and no differently. The Family Minister of the Russian Republic of Bashkortostan has now made it clear to everyone.
In Lenara Ivanova, she shared her views on having children. “The best and highest quality children from a health perspective are born at the age of 20. Let’s be honest,” explained the woman, who calls herself Minister for Family, Labor and Social Protection. The later the children are born, the more common “defects and risks are,” she added. After the age of 35, children “simply no longer succeed.” The host of the show, Razif Abdullin, agreed with her unreservedly.
“The best children are born in love and youth. And that’s a good thing,” concluded the minister.
Half-hearted apology
The appearance did not go unnoticed. There was a hail of criticism online. The excitement was so great that Ivanova even had to row back. She slipped, she explained. “The point is: the older the woman giving birth, the more children have health problems. But the most important thing is that it generally becomes more difficult to give birth. From the point of view of health, there is an iron logic here. But “I’m sorry. If it had been a print medium, I wouldn’t have written it like that, I would have weighed everything,” said Ivanova’s stubborn statement. So it’s only the choice of words and not the point of view that makes her regret.
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Training and careers for women? “A completely evil practice”
But Ivanova is by no means the only one who takes such an attitude in Russia. Concern about the “gene pool” has been a topic of concern for almost all propagandists in recent months. The Kremlin wants Russian women to give birth more again. As early as possible and as much as possible.
Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko recently demanded that Russians should be taught in school that women should first give birth and only then start their education or career. In one, he explained: “The belief that a woman should first complete vocational training, then pursue a career and secure her own financial base before finally taking care of having children at a difficult reproductive age is a completely evil practice that has developed in society.”
Women should give birth “as early as possible within the physiological recommendations of the Ministry of Health” in order to avoid “additional problems in the form of infertility and miscarriages.” In addition, this shortens the time until the birth of a third and fourth child.
Giving birth for Russia’s war
While government officials blamed their statements on concerns about children’s health, a Russian cleric on a broadcast on religious broadcaster Spas made no secret of the reason for the government’s desire for more children. The archpriest of the Russian Orthodox Church, Mikhail Vasilyev, openly called on Russian women to give birth to more children so that they could more easily send the offspring to war.
“I fully understand that the Lord has by nature allowed every woman to give birth to many children. When a woman fulfills the Lord’s commandment ‘Be fruitful, multiply’ and abstains from abortifacients in the broadest sense, then she becomes obvious “In most cases, not one child, but more. This means that it will not be as painful for them to part with the child,” he explained. Even if that child is assigned to be “slaughtered.” “The devil is not as terrible as he is portrayed,” the priest added.
The priest will have already found out whether his words correspond to the facts. He was killed shortly after this performance on occupied Ukrainian territory.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
