Russian President Vladimir Putin was met on Tuesday with a rare revolt from the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, over his recruitment practices for the war in Ukraine.
Kirill, 77, who justified Putin's move to invade Ukraine in February 2022 on spiritual and ideological grounds, criticized the Kremlin's decision to allow for the mobilization of fathers with three or more children in Russia.
He made the remarks during parliamentary meetings in the Russian Federation Council, reminding officials of Russia's demographic crisis that has been compounded by Putin's war in Ukraine.
"For the purpose of saving people and stimulating the birth rate in Russia, I consider it important...at the federal level to legally prohibit the mobilization in peacetime of fathers of large families with three or more children," said Kirill, a longtime ally of Putin.
"According to the current law, fathers of four children have the right to a deferment. But it is necessary to provide the same rights and for families with three children, it is precisely such a family that gives, although minimal, a real increase in our population," he said.
Newsweek has contacted Russia's Foreign Ministry via email for comment.
Russia for decades has been experiencing a population decline, and this appears to have worsened amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, with high casualty rates and men fleeing the country to avoid being conscripted to fight.
According to data from Russia's Federal State Statistics Service, Rosstat, the country could face a decline in its population by more than 10 percent over the next two decades. Newsweek previously reported that in the worst-case scenario, Russia's population could decline by as many as 15.4 million people to 130.6 million, equivalent to a population decline of 700,000 per year.
Kirill said there are far fewer families in Russia with four children than with three.
"It is this family that will ensure the reproduction of the population," he added.
Kirill is typically supportive of Putin's policies related to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
In June 2022, he said Russia was being attacked all over the world because of feelings of jealousy, envy and indignation, adding that he believed this was happening because Russia is "different."
He also urged Russian citizens not to be afraid of death after Putin announced a partial mobilization of troops in September 2022, as thousands began to flee the country to avoid being called up to fight in Ukraine.
"Go bravely to fulfill your military duty. And remember that if you lay down your life for your country, you will be with God in his kingdom, glory and eternal life," he told a sermon at the Zachatyevsky Monastery in Moscow, shortly after Putin said up to 300,000 reservists would be called up to fight.
A person of "true faith" is not subject to the fear of death, he said at the time.
Putin himself has said that Russia now faces a "difficult demographic challenge." He said in November 2023 that "having many children and a large family should become the norm."
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About the writer
Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more
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