Member-only story
In Case You Have Forgotten, It Is Still the Year of the Family in Russia
Putin tells women they should forgo college and instead have ‘6 or 7 babies like their grandmothers used to have.’
This is the face of JD Vance. In case you don’t know why I am using his image in an article about a recent ridiculous speech made by Putin, it’s because I am willing to bet that faux-good ol’ boy JD was quite thrilled to hear Putin’s off-handed announcement, which in Russia is usually like a burst pinata at a birthday party. Russian lawmakers will now be stumbling over themselves to put Putin’s words into action.
“Many of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers had seven or eight children, and maybe even more,” Putin declared to an audience of ultraconservative religious and political figures who had convened in the State Kremlin Palace in November. “We should preserve and revive these wonderful traditions.”
Putin, who spoke by video link from his office in Sochi in southern Russia, appeared on a massive screen flanked by two images of the “Icon of the Savior, Made-Without-Hands,” suggesting godlike status as he urged Russian women to give birth to very large families. Russian officials, echoing their leader, are telling women to start young — at 18 (Have Babies for Russia).
