Russians have been told to help remedy their country's ailing birth rate by creating babies during coffee and lunch breaks in offices and factories.
Vladimir Putin is reportedly concerned with fixing Russia's rock-bottom fertility rate of 1.5 children per woman, nearly a point below the 2.1 needed to sustain the population of any given country. Despite pursuing a war that has reportedly seen up to 180,000 people die in Ukraine, his allies are now appealing for people to help boost the rate back up again - in some unusual ways.
As national estimates suggest more than one million mainly younger Russians have emigrated due to Putin’s war against Ukraine, a health minister has launched a sex-at-work plan. Speaking on national television channel Federal Press TV, Dr Yevgeny Shestopalov called on people to "engage in procreation on breaks".
He told an interviewer that being busy with work is "not a valid reason" not to attempt to conceive children while working. He said: "Being very busy at work is not a valid reason, but a lame excuse,” said Dr Yevgeny Shestopalov. "You can engage in procreation during breaks, because life flies by too quickly."
Pushing back on the doctor, the interviewer responded: "There are people who work 12 to 14 hours - when do they make babies?" In response, Dr Shestopalov said: "During break times." The initiative, despite seeming like an off-the-cuff suggestion, is one of many initiatives Russia is sponsoring to help remedy the failing birth rate.
In Moscow, women aged 18 to 40 are being told to attend free fertility checks to assess their “reproductive potential”. One region - Chelyabinsk - is paying students £8,500 for the birth of their first child, provided the mother is aged under 24. Another scheme launched in Karelia, a northwestern region bordering Finland, has a similar scheme paying £850.
Putin has insisted: “The preservation of the Russian people is our highest national priority.” He also said: “The fate of Russia....depends on how many of us there will be. It is a question of national importance.” Anna Kuznetsova, a prominent Russian politician, has demanded women start giving birth at a young age, around "19 to 20 years old".
