Russian lawmaker pushes for decade-long family initiative

Nina Ostanina, head of the State Duma Committee on Family Defence and a communist, is known for supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin's values and ideas. According to media reports, the 68-year-old is convinced that Russians should become more involved in expanding their families.

The woman has urged her fellow citizens to support Putin's idea, which claims that the philosophy of Russian life should be centred on large families. The "Belsat" service quoted her words, in which Ostanina mentioned the family year, which is soon ending.

It seems that there are three months left until the end of the family year, but for the president, it remains a philosophy of life. Unfortunately, these words have not been accepted as a guide to action by many in our government. We need to start creating a positive image of the family. The criteria for the national project "Family" should be based on the main indicator, success — the communist allegedly said.

In the continuation of her speech, Nina Ostanina allegedly proposed extending the family year to ten years and adding that large families should receive appropriate support.

Nina Ostanina has been a member of the Russian State Duma since December 1995. In the past, she ran in the gubernatorial elections in Russia in 1997 but without success. She also ran with the same result in parliamentary elections in the Rubtsovsk district.

In March 2022, she was placed on the sanctions list by the US Treasury as one of the 324 members of the State Duma in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A few months later, she co-authored a bill that would prohibit the denial of family values and promote non-conventional sexual orientations.