‘Territory is good, but it must be populated,’ says Putin, telling Russians, ‘We need more girls’
During his end-of-year press conference on Thursday, Vladimir Putin was asked what his administration plans to do if Russia’s efforts to “increase the birth rate” fail to halt the country’s aging and population decline. The president acknowledged the issue’s seriousness, citing Russia’s Soviet experiences in the Second World War and noting that the number of women of childbearing age in Russia has “decreased by 30 percent.” Putin said, “We need more girls,” and added:
We will continue to fine-tune this. I want to address all leaders of all regions of the Russian Federation. The workday should begin and end with this issue because it is a challenge. Territory is good, but it must be populated. We are doing a lot, but clearly not enough.
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