Russian President Vladimir Putin is urging Russians to have more children. 
"Large families must become the norm," Putin said in a speech Tuesday. 
Russian birth rates are falling amid war in Ukraine and a deepening economic crisis. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin is urging women to have as many as eight children as the number of dead Russian soldiers continues to rise in his war with Ukraine, worsening the country’s population crisis.

Addressing the World Russian People’s Council in Moscow on Tuesday, Putin said the country must return to a time when large families were the norm.

“Many of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers, had seven, eight, or even more children,” Putin said.

  • RvTV95XBeo@sh.itjust.works
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    11 months ago

    I find it hard to imagine wanting to have kids just so your dictator has more meat to feed into his meat grinder. Perhaps the only good news is Putin hopefully doesn’t have 18 more years in him, so the kids won’t have to deal with him directly, but who knows who will sit in the throne next…

    • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I doesn’t work either. Appeals to nationalism, religion, and even straight up paying and providing luxury benefits to people, in order to have them start having more kids just did nothing in the long run. The world is different. Your children are more likely to become independent adults when you put your resources into a smaller number of children. The cost/benefits ratio of having large families to produce stability, and increase the chances at least one child will be successful, has completely reverse from 100+ years ago.

      • Jaysyn@kbin.social
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        11 months ago

        Putin will open rape/baby factories for female prisoners next. Just watch.

        • Gork@lemm.ee
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          11 months ago

          That might end up being the scary reality for the women and girls who have been abducted in Ukraine.

        • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          The scale at which they would need to do this would make even forcing pregnancy and birth not really sustainable. Especially when the child are being birthed into the world where the economics are against large fertility rates.

        • I Cast Fist@programming.dev
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          11 months ago

          I think the irony is that you don’t even need to do something like that. Just open a bunch of “orphanages” that are all about hammering absolute loyalty to the dear leader, offer to pay money for any kids that are left there, reap the rewards in a couple of years. As a double whammy, parents are also free to continue fully dedicating to work.

          Libertarians would probably have the weirdest hate boner if that happened, selling kids (great!) to the govt (horrible!)

          • Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            11 months ago

            Christ my mind went somewhere else. I thought you were gonna suggest that after they open the orphanages and they get populated they would offer the kids a bunch of benefits once they were of age to start breeding. I bet a significant portion of those kids would take it in a heart beat since the alternative is being kicked out at 18 without anywhere to go or money.

            • uis@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              since the alternative is being kicked out at 18 without anywhere to go or money.

              Legaly, all orphans who don’t already own home, will get one from state. But governor wants 5th yacht too.

        • Cosmic Cleric@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Putin will open rape/baby factories for female prisoners next. Just watch.

          If anything, they would outlaw contraception first, before going down that road that you’re describing, not that that road would be successful in either case.

      • HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I don’t know if or when they ended the Maternity Medal, Order of Maternal Glory, and Mother Heroine awards for having large families in Russia. I don’t know much about the programs, just what a friend who emigrated told me about them (and what wikipedia says)

    • PoliticalAgitator@lemm.ee
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      11 months ago

      You’re already projecting compassion he doesn’t have by assuming he’d wait for them to turn 18. If he thought it would work, he’d march 5 year olds in bomb vests over the border then have Elon announce that Ukraine kills children.

      • SCB@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I mean it’s unlikely Putin lives another 16 years, so even if they’re sending 15 year olds to the front this won’t help the war machine

        It’s more about long-term population loss. There’s a reason combined-arms forces are used and mass infantry assaults are not. Problem is, Russian military hardware sucks for a lot of different and systemic reasons so that option isn’t realistic over a large theater.

        Putin is straight up bleeding Russia out and it’s really sad that this many people are displaced and dying over one man’s ego and lust for his station.

    • rammer@sopuli.xyz
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      11 months ago

      The hate of men will pass and dictators die and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die liberty will never perish.

      Source