For Russia, the declining population growth has become a critical challenge for the country to address over the past few decades and has been made more pressing due to the pandemic outbreak and the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is estimated that the country has lost more than two million people in the past four years due to COVID, deaths on the battlefield, and emigration. The population has also experienced a decrease in the fertility rate¹and a decline in immigration, as the war has made Russia a less favorable destination for immigrants.² The population growth rate has fallen below zero since 2019, with the fertility rate dropping to as low as 1.42, far below the replacement level of 2.1.³ The declining population growth rate has left Russia with an aging population, resulting in insufficient labor force in almost all fields. Employers have been reporting a labor shortage across all areas of the economy;⁴ the defense industry has adopted a mechanism of “three shifts,” requiring workers to work up to seventy hours per week;⁵ Russia has also become the only developed country with a shrinking workforce in its science industry.⁶

In order to address the demographic crisis, Russia has recently adopted a punishment strategy. Earlier in November 2024, Russia passed a law banning propaganda that advocates for a “childless lifestyle.” Individuals associated with such propaganda face fines of up to 400,000 rubles (approximately $3,500 USD), and foreign nationals who create and circulate such content face deportation.⁷ According to officials who authored this bill, it is an important effort to “protect people, primarily the younger generation, from having the ideology of childlessness imposed on them via the internet, media, movies, and advertising,” and to fight against “a hybrid war aimed at population reduction” started by the West.⁸

AP, "Elvira Aitkulova, one of the authors of the bill," 2024.¹²