Russia in Review, Nov. 17-21, 2023

File Photo of Red Square, Kremlin, Environs, adapted from image at state.gov

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) 3 Things to Know In the past month, Russian forces have gained 16 square miles of Ukrainian territory, while Ukraine gained 7 square miles, according to calculations by Katherine Davidson, associate of the Belfer Russia-Ukraine War Task Force.1Yet, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has this week denied his top general Valery Zaluzhny’s recent claim that the war has reached […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Putin Orders Government to Improve Abortion Prevention Efforts” – Moscow Times

File Photo of Ultrasound of Unborn Child with Anti-Smoking Message, adapted from image at cdc.gov

President Vladimir Putin has urged the government to improve abortion prevention strategies in an effort to reduce the number of terminated pregnancies and offset Russia’s population decline […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Abortion in Russia: How Has the Situation Changed Since the Soviet Era? [Excerpt]” – PONARS Eurasia/ Victoria Sakevich, Maria Lipman

Ultrasound and Photo of Prenatal Child file photo

(PONARS Eurasia/ Victoria Sakevich, Maria Lipman – February 12, 2019) Victoria Sakevich is a Senior Researcher at the Institute of Demography at the Higher School of Economics, Russia. She has been studying the demography of reproductive health for many years. [Full text with charts: http://www.ponarseurasia.org/point-counter/article/abortion-russia-how-has-situation-changed-soviet-era] Soviet women commonly resorted to abortion as a way to end unwanted pregnancies. In the […]

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NEWSWATCH: “POLL: Christian Values on Sodomy, Abortion, Surge In Russia – 83% Reject Homosexuality; ‘abortions have decreased eight-fold in Russia over the past 25 years'” – RussianFaith

Ultrasound and Photo of Prenatal Child file photo

“… [Numbers of] Russians … who consider abortion unacceptable ha[ve] tripled over … the past 20 years, from 12% to 35%. The number …  condem[ing] adultery and same-sex relationships … also significantly increased, according … [to the] Levada Center … [A]  late December 2017 [survey] showed that the majority of Russians (68%) condemn extramarital sexual relations, while only 50% condemned […]

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NEWSLINK: “Russia’s Villages, and Their Way of Life, Are ‘Melting Away'” – New York Times/ NEIL MacFARQUHAR

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

“… With Russia’s natural population growth entering an extended period of decline, villages like Baruta are disappearing from across the country’s continental expanse. * * * Russia’s demographic problem dates back at least 100 years, to the upheaval of the 1917 revolution, followed by Stalin’s purges in the 1930s. Both events curbed population growth, foreshadowing the devastating impact of World […]

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Russia’s Abortion Debate Is Back

Ultrasound and Photo of Prenatal Child file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ola Cichowlas – September 29, 2016) Abortion rights are on the minds of citizens and officials across Europe this week. In Ireland, protesters marched through the streets of Dublin in the thousands demanding their government hold a referendum to repeal restrictive abortion laws. The same week, the Polish parliament shocked Europe by voting through a […]

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Helping Russia’s broken women to get back on their feet

Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

Dozens of crisis centers operate in Russia to help women caught up in desperate situations and left without help from their families. Some of them have nowhere to live, while others are trying to get away from their alcoholic, wife-beating husbands. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – OLEG SKRIPNIK, SPECIAL TO RBTH – July 14, 2016) There are three […]

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Moscow Region Duma Holds Conference to Combat Abortion Rates

Ultrasound and Photo of Prenatal Child file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 29, 2016) The Moscow Region Duma held a conference – titled “Therefore choose life, for both thou and thy seed” – to promote chastity among adolescents and lower the abortion rate, the Duma’s official web portal reported Friday. The conference was dedicated to combating the growing rate of abortion in Russia and preserving family, […]

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Interfax: Russians are now more loyal to sex before marriage than they were 25 years ago – poll

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Interfax – June 26, 2015) Russian society became more liberal to sex before marriage in the past 25 years, a poll conducted by the All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) shows. The poll, which surveys 1,600 people, was conducted in 130 populated areas of Russia. It shows that the percentage of respondents who believe sex before marriage is unacceptable for […]

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Russian Patriarch Says Halving Abortions Will Help Solve Population Crisis

Patriarch Kirill file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber – January 23, 2015) Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, crossed Russia’s shifting line between Church and politics in his first-ever address to the State Duma on Thursday, calling on lawmakers to ensure that traditional moral values are safeguarded in the country’s legislation. The Russian Orthodox Church is known to entertain close […]

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Russia seeks to further decrease abortion rates

Kremlin and Saint Basil's

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Elena Lysak, special to RBTH – January 28, 2014) The Ministry of Health will set up crisis pregnancy centers in an attempt to decrease the number of abortions each year. Population loss through abortions in the 1960s to 1980s cost Russia more than double the number of lives it had lost in the […]

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Topless FEMEN activist climbs altar in Cologne cathedral during Christmas Mass

EU Map

KYIV. Dec 25 (Interfax) – An activist of the feminist movement FEMEN has disrupted a Christmas mass in Kolner Dom, the main cathedral of Cologne, Germany. “The activist climbed the altar of the cathedral in the presence of thousands of people to protest the Vatican propaganda for the criminalization of abortion. The words ‘I AM GOD!’ were painted on the […]

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RIA Novosti: Most Russians Support Sex Ed, Abortion – Poll

Kremlin and St. Basil's

MOSCOW, December 2 (RIA Novosti) ­ Most Russians believe schools should offer sex education lessons, according to a new survey conducted by the independent Levada Center. Russian schools do not include sex education as a systemic part of the curriculum, whic is considered a major factor in the failure to curb the AIDS epidemic that has raged in Russia since […]

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Abortion: A matter of life and death; Russian abortion rates, still relatively high, are falling steadily

Ultrasound and Photo of Prenatal Child file photo

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Kristen Blyth – August 13, 2013) In the days of the Soviet Union, abortions were shockingly common. “My grandmother once told me that she had 12 abortions,” Dasha, a Muscovite in her late 20s, told The Moscow News. “My former landlady – she’s 67 now – and I once had a conversation about having children. […]

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Tanks, Days Off, Abortions: 24 Things Russia Gives the Most Of

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 17, 2013) ­ What do these three things have in common: tanks, abortions and instant coffee? They are all things that Russia exports, performs or consumes more than any other nation. Esquire magazine’s Russian-language edition on Monday released a list of 24 things for which Russia is a statistically proven world leader. One standout is […]

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Strict Measures in Works to Boost Population

File Photo of Russian Expectant Couple with Mother in Hospital Bed

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – May 29, 2013) Senior federal officials on Tuesday discussed at the Kremlin the country’s draft plan for the next 12 years to support families with children and ultimately reverse the natural population decline. As part of the plan to boost Russia’s dwindling population ­ which declined for a 20th consecutive year in […]

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Russia’s Population Decline Said To Have ‘Stopped’

File Photo of Crowd of Russians with One Waving Russian Flag

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – May 27, 2013) Russian Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova says the population decline in that country has “stopped.” Speaking at a press conference in Moscow on May 27, Skvortsova said Russia’s birthrate rose by 5.6 percent in 2012, at the same time that antitobacco campaigns and other health measures helped lower the death rate. The United Nations predicts […]

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Russian women prefer abortion to the pill

Ultrasound and Photo of Prenatal Child file photo

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – March 28, 2013 – Svetlana Smetanina, special to RBTH) A recent U.N. study shows that induced termination of pregnancy is still prominent in Russia as one of the most widespread methods of contraception [sic]. As the abortion capital of the world, Russia has some of the most liberal abortion laws ever likely to […]

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