Putin calls on Russian women to have ‘eight or even more children’ after population fell by 550,000 during first year of his war in Ukraine

Vladimir Putin is demanding that Russian women give birth to ‘seven, eight or more’ children to halt population decline.

He warned that it is impossible to solve Russia’s “catastrophic demographic problems” with more money, benefits and social benefits. He urged citizens to have more children as he spoke via video link at Russia’s World Council on Tuesday.

‘Many of our peoples maintain the tradition of the family, raising four, five or more children. Remember that our grandmothers and great-grandmothers in Russian families had both seven and eight children. Let us preserve and revive these traditions,” Putin said.

“Having many children and a large family should become a norm, a way of life for all peoples of Russia. A family is not only the foundation of the state and society, it is a spiritual phenomenon, the source of morality,” he continued.

Putin himself is believed to have at least six children, with three partners, although he only publicly admits to having two daughters.

Many blame his war in Ukraine for a huge drop in the birth rate – and a rise in deaths, damaging his popularity ahead of the March 2024 elections. Russia’s population fell by about 550,000 during the first year of its invasion, with many families reluctant to start a family amid economic uncertainty and conflict.

Alina Kabaeva and father Vladimir Putin (left) at an event in the Kremlin in an undated photo

Lyudmila Putina (Ocheretnaya), former wife of President Vladimir Putin (L) and Vladimir Putin

Putin is demanding a major change in attitudes from Russians, with parents currently producing an average of just 1.42 children.

Russia has suffered a staggering decline in its birth rate since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Demographers cite a crashing economy and strict abortion regulations as deterrents for prospective parents.

Life expectancy has barely increased since 1991 and is only 71.34 years in 2020. Conflicts in Central Asia and Ukraine have not contributed to this, nor has a widespread drinking problem.

According to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace“Some of the objective reasons for Russia’s demographic problems reflect historical dynamics: the number of women of childbearing age is declining, and the average age at which women have children is steadily rising in modernized, urban, educated populations.”

The think tank also noted that the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine have “created a backdrop of extreme uncertainty about the future.”

‘This has predictably changed family planning, with some people deciding not to have children or to postpone starting a family or having another child until psychologically and financially stable times.

“The militarization of life in Russia also does not encourage people to expand their families, except those who consider it their duty to supply the motherland with cannon fodder for future wars,” a 2023 report starkly noted.

The Russian president, 71, is known to have two daughters of his own with his first wife Lyudmila Putina, 65, the former first lady of Russia.

They are Maria Vorontsova, 38, a geneticist and expert on dwarfism and a leading researcher at the National Medical Research Center for Endocrinology of the Ministry of Health of Russia.

He is also the father of Katerina Tikhonova, 37, a high-kicking “rock’n’roll” dancer turned mathematician, and director general of the National Intellectual Development Foundation in Russia.

Luiza Rozova, 20, also known as Elizaveta Krivonogikh, is one of Putin’s children, believed to be a student in Paris, whom he fathered after a long extramarital relationship with cleaning lady turned multimillionaire Svetlana Krivonogikh, 48, according to a Russian researcher journalists .

Putin said on Tuesday that it is a moral imperative to start a family

Young woman identified as Vladimir Putin’s daughter known as both Elizaveta Krivonogikh and Luiza Rozova

Katerina Tikhonova, 37, a high-kicking “rock’n’roll” dancer turned mathematician, and daughter of Putin

Maria Vorontsova, 37, pictured leading a debate on genetics and law at the 10th International Legal Forum in St. Petersburg

Separately, he is believed to have three young children with current partner Alina Kabaeva, 40, a former Olympic gold medal-winning rhythmic gymnast.

There are also unconfirmed speculations that he fathered a son while stationed in East Germany as a Soviet KGB spy.

But Putin has refused to reveal details of his private life to Russians, despite having instructed people on how many babies they should have.

‘I have a private life in which I do not allow interference. It must be respected.’

He deplored “those who creep into the lives of others with their snotty noses and erotic fantasies.”