Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has revived the Soviet-era “Mother Heroine” award for women who have ten or more children originally established by Joseph Stalin in 1944 to encourage large families after the death of tens of millions of Soviet citizens during the Second World War (which, for the benefit of Russian readers actually began in 1939, at which time Stalin had entered into a pact with Hitler – ed.).
Putin’s Russia has been facing a similar demographic crisis, largely led by a “brain-drain” that began with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and which is now being given fresh impetus by the war in Ukraine.
Qualifying mothers are awarded a one-time payment of 1 million rubles (£13,500) as soon as their 10th living child turns one year old. According to Putin’s decree, the mothers still qualify if they lose any of their children in battle or as a result of a terrorist act or emergency situation, the decree states.
They will also receive Mother Heroine gold medals.
Unsurprisingly, critics at home and abroad are accusing Putin of encouraging women to produce “cannon fodder” for the Russian army.
Nobody knows with any certainty the true level of Russian casualties – in Russia itself this is a state secret – but on July 27th, U.S. officials told Congress that roughly 75,000 Russians had been killed or wounded, and on August 8th, Undersecretary of Defence for Policy Colin Kahl told reporters that “the Russians have probably taken 70 or 80,000 casualties.”
One would normally assume in such circumstances that somewhere in the region of 25% of casualties would be fatalities, but given the poor training of Putin’s army, and the lack of adequate protective equipment, this percentage would almost certainly be somewhat higher.
Read Also:
- Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact: Vladimir Putin’s alternative history
- Nuremberg, Soviet war crimes, & the hypocrisy of Vladimir Putin
Image: The Presidential Press and Information Office via Wikipedia
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