The ‘Mother Heroine’ was a title that began in 1944 by the former Soviet Leader, Josef Stalin. Putin has now revived the title for mothers of ten or more kids.
Russian President Vladimir Putin brought back the “Mother Heroine” award from the Soviet era. The award was and now is for mothers with ten or more children. This occurs as Moscow struggles with a demographic crisis worsened due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
After suffering significant population losses during World War II, Soviet leader Josef Stalin first established the honorific title “Mother Heroine” in 1944. On Monday, August 15, Putin renewed it. After the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991, the title was no longer given.
Eligible mothers to get 1 million rubles for being “Mother Heroine”
According to an order posted on the official legal information portal, the mothers are entitled to a lump sum payment of ₽1 million ($16,138), according to the Russian news agency TASS.
The TASS document said, “To establish the title Mother Heroine, to be awarded to a mother who is a citizen of the Russian Federation, who is given birth and brought up ten or more children who are citizens of the Russian Federation.”
The decree states that the eligible moms will get the reward as soon as their tenth living kid turns one. If parents lose a child during combat, a terrorist attack, or in any other emergency situation, they will still be eligible for the reward.
Russia has been suffering demographic losses
High-ranking governmental orders like the Hero of Russia and the Hero of Labor are on the same prestige level as the Mother Heroine title. On June 1, the day before Russia’s Children’s Day celebration, Putin originally suggested creating the Mother Heroine title. He said that large families were gradually seeing a comeback in Russian society.
Russia’s population has been declining for the past few decades, which has surprised the authorities. After a loss of about 400,000 people at the beginning of 2022, the total population dropped to 145.1 million. This could be seen as a “cardinal” measure to deal with the country’s demographic crisis.