Roman Danilkin, Ekaterina Kolotovkina / T.me
Marina, resident in Samara, photographed for the project “Women of Heroes”
Russian authorities are promoting new initiatives across the country that encourage pregnant wives of soldiers to lead to pregnancy to the end – even if their husbands can never return from the war in Ukraine.
Russia is promoting birth incentive programs with pregnant women from Russian soldiers, as part of a broader Russian campaign to combat demographic decline – while promoting what Kremlin calls “traditional family values.”
The movement “Be a mother“In the Russian region of Samara, it is an example of the growing number of initiatives that follow this trend, says the.
The organization recently shared a message written in the name of a newborn named Eva, whose father was killed In Ukraine: “Hello, my name is Eva! I was born today, and my father is a hero, But I will never know him“.
Government support to these initiatives has grown substantially in recent months. In 2025, the Foundation of Presidential Scholarships attributed approximately 16 million rubles (about 170 thousand euros) Projects to support soldiers’ wives.
One of these projects is the program “ZA Lyubov”(“ For Love ”), which received this spring almost 3 million rubles (32 thousand euros) to provide assistance to pregnant military wives.
The program was launched by Yekaterina kolotovkinawife of a general from Samara who received Putin’s recognition for pro-war activism.
At the program’s launch event, military widows shared their experiences as pregnant women. A participant, Oksana, I knew that her husband had missing in combat while in the maternity ward. Another, Olga, gave birth shortly after the husband’s funeral.
“A better inheritance our heroes leave us They are your children. And it’s ours sacred duty to ensure that this continuation is worthy“Kolotovkina said, who hopes to expand the initiative at national level.
The initiative offers psychological counselingeducation sessions on the joys of maternity and parties at the height of maternity – with the right to photographic sessions. Participants must provide Military Service Proof of the husband and the state of pregnancy.
According to Kolotovkina, eight babies were born through the program in two months. Three of them They will never see their parents, killed in combat.
Similar initiatives were launched in other regions of the country, including the project “Maternity from the moment of conception” in Noyabrrsk, which encourages pregnant women to write letters to their husbands from their children’s perspective unborn.
Another Kolotovkina project, “Heroes“It shows women from soldiers who await the return of husbands to the house. The initiative received praise from Vladimir Putin – who, according to, has a favorite photograph: that of Marina, resident in Samara, which we showed above.
But not everyone agrees with this kind of initiatives. This is the case of the researcher Sasha Talaverwho sees these programs critically, arguing that they “soften and disguise the dramatic consequences that war brings to family relationships. ”
Talaver argues that the system puts the burden of dealing with the consequences war entirely about women.
These initiatives also coincide with the Park from abortion restrictionsstimulated by prominent religious elements – With the help of orthodox priests who preach sermons about the importance of motherhood and give blessings to childbirth.
The psychologist Nadezhda Fesenko He says that after more than three years of war in Ukraine, many of the pregnant women who follow are now going through “a reevaluation of values”.
“Women shared with me the reasons why they considered abortion: ‘I’m afraid of being alone‘or’ my husband can go to war. ‘ But now, families They begin to understand that all life is valuable”Says Fesenko.
“Paradoxically, military operation played a significant role in the abortion discouragement. In Russia, it has always been a matter of mindset: what is it for? Our husbands and children go there for lifeto preserve life, ”says Fesenko.
The decline of birth in Russia and the country’s “demographic forces vest” is the one that Putin has in his hands – which makes the need to overcome war a “minor problem.”
But for the mothers of Russia who saw their husbands to go to the front of battle, sometimes the Fear of losing her husband is greater than the desire to help to spoil this bomb.
“I am so afraid. I’m afraid for him, I’m afraid for pregnancyI am afraid that the baby is born earlier than expected. I no longer have the strength“Writes a woman named Kristina in a forum on pregnancy.
