Putin approves a law that prohibits as “propaganda” any idea that promotes a “life without children”

Nov. 23 () –

The president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, signed a law this Saturday that prohibits the dissemination of ideas that promote a “life without children” through the Internet, media, cinema or advertising.

Under this law, any person or body found guilty of this crime would face an administrative penalty of between 200,000 and one million rubles (1,800 and 9,200 euros).

The president of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian Federal Assembly, Viacheslav Volodin, wanted to clarify immediately after the signing that the new legislation “is in no way directed against a woman’s decision not to give birth” but which is intended to “protect the new generation from destructive tendencies.

According to Volodin, everything must be done to ensure that new generations of citizens “grow up focused on traditional family values,” according to his statements, reported by the Russian news agency TASS.

According to data from the DPA agency, the birth rate in Russia fell to 25-year lows in the first half of 2024. The demographic crisis has recently been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, which has apparently led to many people in Russia to postpone their plans to have families.

Russia’s population has been falling steadily in recent years. If in 1990 almost 149 million people lived in Russia, now the figure is just under 144 million. According to calculations by statisticians, this figure could be reduced to between 133 and 136 million in 2050.

Shortly before, Putin also signed a new law prohibiting the adoption of children from the Russian Federation by citizens of countries that allow gender reassignment, again according to the TASS agency. Volodin also commented that the law aims to protect children from “potential dangers in Austria, Estonia, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Slovenia and Switzerland”, where “there are no age restrictions for the legal change gender”.