Putin Urges Russian Women To Make 'At Least 8' Babies; Says Make Large Families A Norm

World News:  Russian President Vladimir Putin has encouraged women in the nation to consider having up to 'eight children' and make large families the 'norm.' Putin made these remarks during his address at the World Russian People's Council in Moscow, on Tuesday. Russia has seen a decline in its birth rate since the 1990s, further deteriorated by over 3,00,000 casualties out of a total population of 14,64,47,424 during the Ukraine War.

Putin said that boosting Russia's population will be "our goal for the coming decades".

"Many of our ethnic groups have preserved the tradition of having strong multigenerational families with four, five, or even more children. Let us remember that Russian families, many of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers had seven, eight, or even more children," Mr Putin said while addressing the council via video link on Tuesday.

Russian President further added that people must strive to protect our 'excellent' traditions.

"Let us preserve and revive these excellent traditions. Large families must become the norm, a way of life for all of Russia's people. The family is not just the foundation of the state and society, it is a spiritual phenomenon, a source of morality," he added.

The full speech has been uploaded on the Russian President's official website.

"Preserving and increasing the population of Russia is our goal for the coming decades and even generations ahead. This is the future of the Russian world, the millennium-old, eternal Russia," Mr Putin said.

The conference, organised by the leader of Russia's Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, drew participation from representatives of various traditional organisations in Russia, as reported by The Independent. While the Russian President's statements did not explicitly address the extent of casualties among Russian soldiers in the Ukraine War, numerous sources have connected his remarks to the ongoing conflict.

The UK's defence ministry has indicated that the death toll in Ukraine probably surpassed 300,000. Additionally, an independent Russian policy group, Re: Russia, has asserted that an estimated 820,000-920,000 individuals have fled the country.