Repopulate Russia: Russian President Vladimir Putin is offering to pay women, who would bare 10 or more children, to restore the nation's ongoing demographic crisis, which emerged due to the Russia-Ukraine war and the Covid pandemic.
According to experts, the initiative, which offers a one-time payment of £13,500 to give birth and to keep alive 10 children, is being seen as a desperate attempt. As per a directive signed by Putin on Monday, mothers who would qualify for this, would receive a one-time payment of 1 million rubles (approximately Rs 13,12,000 or $16,000) when their tenth living child turns one-year-old, the report further added.
Dr Jenny Mathers, a Russian politics and security expert, spoke to broadcaster Henry Bonsu on Times Radio about the new Russian scheme, known as Mother Heroine. This is a desperate attempt by Putin to replenish a dwindling population.
This sudden development comes after Russia reported a spike in daily coronavirus cases since March this year, while deaths over Russia-Ukraine war have nearly touched the 50,000 mark.
Dr Mathers said Putin has been saying that people who have large families are more patriotic. Mr Bonsu said, “A soviet era award for women, who have ten or more children, it is called the Mother Heroine. It’s an attempt to restore Russia’s demographic crisis that has been deepened by the war in Ukraine.”
The Mother Heroine award offered by the Russians is not new, it dates back to the Soviet era. Even then, money was given to mothers, who have ten or more children, according to Bonsu.
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