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Nine families with many children from the Sverdlovsk Region, the Republic of Crimea, the Ryazan Region, the Kaliningrad Region, the Republic of Ingushetia, the Penza Region, the Kemerovo Region – Kuzbass, the Jewish Autonomous Region, and the Zaporozhye Region took part in the videoconference meeting with the President.

The meeting was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova and Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova.

The Order of Parental Glory is awarded to biological or adoptive parents with seven or more children. It was instituted by Presidential Executive Order in 2008.

The Mother Heroine title is awarded to mothers bearing and raising ten or more children. The title is accompanied by the bestowal of a special decoration – the Order “Heroine Mother.” Both the title and the order were instituted by Presidential Executive Order in 2022.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Friends, good afternoon.

We are holding this meeting today as we approach International Children’s Day. I would like to offer my heartfelt greetings to all the parents, grandmothers, grandfathers, teachers, mentors, and all who have been devoting their efforts and energy and generously sharing the warmth of their hearts and doing everything to enable the younger generation, our children to be happy and to succeed in life.

I am delighted to offer my greetings to large and tight-knit families in which parents devote their entire lives to raising their children. This, of course, has been invariably viewed as something that matters the most for any person and something extremely important for the entire country.

As is well known, this is hard, intense, and demanding work, especially in families like yours, that have seven or more children. And the awards that have been bestowed on you, including the title of Mother Heroine and the Order of Parental Glory, are a testament to the profound respect on the part of the state and society for your choice in life and for all our large families, their calling, and their mission.

You have surrounded every child with your love and care by being there for one another and overcoming all the challenges you face, and the multiple travails any large family has to go through. You understand better than anyone else that these efforts will always pay off.

You know the kind of immense and unmatched joy that comes from seeing your children grow up and feeling pride for their success and achievements, to be able to follow one after another as they grow up, choose their professions, and find their place in life.

Solid and close-knit families like yours have always served as the bedrock for our country and a source of pride. As for the genuine family values, here in Russia we, its citizens, view them as something timeless, no matter who tries challenging or cancelling them nowadays.

I have mentioned this repeatedly, but I would like to stress once again today that all our national development projects and decisions are centred on families with children, their interests and well-being. This is very important now, because it directly influences the living standards and quality of life. At the same time, it is a forward-looking effort, aimed at preserving and enhancing everything that determines our country’s future and character.

Undeniably, we need to make families with three or more children a priority, to create the most favourable conditions for them, providing them with everything they need. We continue to add new family support measures, building them into an integrated support system.

Today, we are ready to hear your assessment of the state’s work and discuss it with you as well as with our colleagues joining us via videoconference. I trust that regional and municipal authorities, public associations, and businesses will also step up their assistance to large families and help them address specific problems.

Public attitudes, priorities and the general philosophy that exist in society play an important role. According to sociologists, the number of Russians who would like to have a large family is growing, and so is the number of families with many children. People’s mindsets are changing, especially when they see your example.

I also know how important it is for families like yours to know that they inspire others. Some of the parents participating in our meeting come from large families themselves. It is heartening to see that the traditions of a large, close-knit family are consolidated and passed on from generation to generation.

I would like to make one more point. A large family is always, invariably, based on love and respect. May these same feelings guide your children when they start their families.

Before we move on to the discussion, I would like to wish Yevgenia Radionova a happy birthday, which is today. She is a wonderful mother of many children. My best wishes to her whole family on their mother’s birthday.

I invite you to begin the discussion.

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Vladimir Putin: Friends,

What would I like to say in conclusion?

Firstly, today’s meeting is taking place online, but we have held similar events in person in Moscow. I will ask colleagues from the Presidential Executive Office – we have done this in previous years – to work with all of you, participants of today’s event. For those who can and wish to do so, we will be pleased to organise a trip to Moscow for you – in full, with all your wonderful, large family groups. That is the first point.

And to conclude, I would like to say the following. One of today’s meeting participants expressed very beautifully her attitude towards children, towards those children who appear in the family, towards the youngest children. She said: “How on earth did we live without you?” – thinking about the children who have newly appeared in the family. This is an amazingly beautiful formula of love – for children, and for members of one’s large family in general, and for people.

This wonderful formula of love, “how did we live without you,” lies at the core not only of our large families, but at the core of all our traditional values.

I congratulate you on the upcoming holiday, International Children’s Day, on the state decorations, and sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, wish you happiness. All the best!

Thank you very much.