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This year awards were presented to families from Moscow, St Petersburg, Sevastopol, the Republic of Altai, Kabardino-Balkaria, and Sverdlovsk and Sakhalin regions.

Orders of Parental Glory are conferred on parents (adoptive parents) who raised or are raising seven and more children, taking proper care of their health, physical, spiritual and moral development.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, my friends. I am happy to welcome all of you.

Our traditional Parental Glory award ceremony takes place on the eve of a wonderful, warm holiday –International Children’s Day, in the heartwarming atmosphere of true sincerity and love. It is you who bestow these feelings on us – large, strong and close families of Russia.

This year this high government award was conferred on eight married couples. When families have as many children as you do, this is real happiness. Please accept my sincere words of respect for your selfless, daily parenting.

Bringing up children has become the cause of your entire lives. Obviously, it cannot be otherwise. I am sure that everything else is subordinate to this job, which is the main job, and an extremely responsible one. It would be no exaggeration to call it a mission, the importance of which for this country (and certainly for you, but also for the country as a whole) and for our society is enormous. It is in such large families that children learn from their early years the values of understanding, industriousness, justice and unity. Growing up with brothers and sisters and under the wing of loving and spiritually generous parents, children acquire the ability to sympathise and forgive. They know the meaning of duty and selfless giving.

Families like yours enhance the prestige of the very institution of the family and restore the primordial traditions of a strong home, solidarity and love, loyalty to one’s clan, one’s ancestors, which have always been so strong in Russia. These traditions reflect the continuity of generations and the preservation of our national identity. They are the foundation of patriotism, devotion to the Fatherland and the willingness to protect it and care for it.

I am convinced that a common priority task of our state, society and our traditional religions is to give every support to families with children. You know about the decisions adopted on the demographic development and demographic policy. They provide for a reduction of taxes on families with many children and additional financial benefits and allowances, discount mortgage programmes and the creation of new capacity in nurseries and kindergartens. We will certainly continue this work. I know that this is not enough. We will think about it further. There are certain ideas on how to further improve these efforts on behalf of the state, how to provide you with comprehensive support.

And, of course, in today’s world that is full of conflict, it is very important to raise the prestige of fatherhood and motherhood, to upgrade the social status of those who raise many children and give happiness and warmth to those who are missing parental care, who find themselves in difficult circumstance at an early age.

Such families, people like you are an asset and a blessing to this country. And we will strive for them to grow in numbers.

Let me congratulate you once again. I wish happiness, health and success to you and your children, and all of your loved ones.

Thank you for your attention.

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Vladimir Putin: Friends,

Let me sincerely congratulate you with these government awards once again.

One of those awarded said something very important – all of you have said very good, important and kind words, and thank you for your kind wishes. But I remembered what one of the awardees said: our children were born in the 1990s and we did not think about state support at that time – we simply wanted to have a large family, to have children and did not expect any appreciation from anyone. All this is really coming from God, from your soul, from your heart. You are the most important people who determine the life of this country and on whom its future will depend. This is so because everything is in the hands of young people like your children. And they will do things and live as you bless them and teach them, in line with the upbringing you give them. A child’s upbringing cannot be poor in families like this. I am simply convinced of this.

Thank you very much. Accept my congratulations.