He Shut Liquor Stores and Banned Abortion, All for the Glory of Russia

A firebrand governor aims to transform his region into a laboratory for the Kremlin’s reactionary ideals.

By Ivan Nechepurenko, Visuals by Mary Gelman
May 18, 2026

He restricted alcohol sales to two hours on workdays and effectively banned abortions in the region’s private clinics. He erected statues of Stalin and Ivan the Terrible, and his government tried to name a youth group after the medieval czar’s dreaded secret police. He emblazoned nearly every bus and even the local airline’s four Soviet-era jets with nationalistic slogans and repainted them ruby red.

Georgy Y. Filimonov, the governor of the northern region of Vologda, is an especially keen reader of Russia’s political winds. He has vigorously embraced the sort of “traditional Russian values” espoused by the Kremlin, asserting Vologda as an undistilled bastion of “Russianness.”

… As he pushes his region’s citizens to carry out what he sees as their patriotic duties, high on his list is having more babies.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/18/world/europe/russia-governor-vologda.html

18.05.2026

Russian fertility rate

Russia: Attacks on Abortion Undermine Women’s Rights

Shrinking Reproductive Options, Growing Pressure, Disinformation

Feb 19, 2026
Human Rights Watch

(Berlin) – Russian authorities are restricting access to safe abortion care and limiting the ability of women and girls to get accurate information about their reproductive choices, Human Rights Watch said today.

Authorities at all levels have openly pressured private clinics to stop performing abortions, toughened licensing requirements, revoked their licenses, and reclassified drugs used in medical abortion as controlled substances, making them harder to access. The Health Ministry’s 2025 guidelines for medical professionals, applicable to both public and private facilities, pressure women seeking an abortion to continue the pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/02/19/russia-attacks-on-abortion-undermine-womens-rights

19.02.2026

Commentary

child-free propaganda

Fyodor Lukyanov

Holly Cartner

Human Rights Watch

International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights

mandatory waiting periods

Russian Orthodox Church

Russia faces a shrinking and aging population and tries restrictive laws to combat it

Katie Marie Davies, Associated Press
Nov 2, 2025

For a quarter century, President Vladimir Putin has faced the specter of Russia's shrinking and aging population. In 1999, a year before he came to power, the number of babies born in Russia plunged to its lowest recorded level. In 2005, Putin said the demographic woes needed to be resolved by maintaining "social and economic stability.”

In 2019, he said the problem still “haunted” the country. As recently as Thursday, he told a Kremlin demographic conference that increasing births was “crucial” for Russia. Putin has launched initiatives to encourage people to have more children -- from free school meals for large families to awarding Soviet-style “hero-mother” medals to women with 10 or more children.

Continued: https://www.post-gazette.com/news/world/2025/11/02/russia-faces-a-shrinking-and-aging-population-and-tries-restrictive-laws-to-combat-it/stories/202511020020

02.11.2025

Russia faces a shrinking and aging population and tries restrictive laws to combat it

Russia has grappled with a shrinking and aging population for decades, with President Vladimir Putin viewing it as a threat to national security

By KATIE MARIE DAVIES, Associated Press
October 25, 2025

For a quarter century, President Vladimir Putin has faced the specter of Russia's shrinking and aging population.

In 1999, a year before he came to power, the number of babies born in Russia plunged to its lowest recorded level. In 2005, Putin said the demographic woes needed to be resolved by maintaining "social and economic stability.”

In 2019, he said the problem still “haunted” the country.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/russia-faces-shrinking-aging-population-restrictive-laws-combat-126856077

25.10.2025

Abortion ban in Russia: unofficially in force?

Amidst the war and the difficult demographic situation in Russia, pressure on women is increasing

Sep 12, 2025
Deutsche Welle

The authorities in Russia are in fact continuing to restrict women's access to abortions. Under pressure from the state, private clinics are increasingly refusing the procedure for terminating pregnancy or delaying it. In the Murmansk region, for example, there is an unofficial ban on medical abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy, human rights activists report. After this period, women are left with only the more traumatic methods: vacuum aspiration or curettage.

This is happening against the backdrop of the worsening demographic situation in Russia. After May of this year, the Russian authorities stopped publishing demographic statistics. Shortly before that, the independent analyst and former expert at "Rosstat" Alexey Raksha announced that in March, an absolute record number of births was set in Russia since such statistics were kept at the end of the 18th century.

Continued: https://fakti.bg/en/world/999830-abortion-ban-in-russia-unofficially-in-force

12.09.2025

religion and abortion

Russian Municipality

Russian Orthodox Church

‘Give Me a Choice’: Activists Urge Russian Doctors to Defend Women’s Right to Abortion

July 17, 2025
Alexander Avilov / Moskva News Agency

Activists are appealing to Russian doctors to protect abortion rights for women as authorities across Russia continue to clamp down on access to the procedure.

“Don’t take part in propaganda. Don’t forget that abortion is still legal in Russia. Don’t delay the process. Help women carry out their choice,” Feminist Anti-War Resistance, a group founded in protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, urged medical professionals in the digital campaign, called Give Me a Choice.

Continued: https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/07/17/give-me-a-choice-activists-urge-russian-doctors-to-defend-womens-right-to-abortion-a89858

17.07.2025

News

Feminist Anti-War Resistance

Give Me a Choice campaign

Russian Orthodox Church

Abortion Tourism On The Rise In Russia As Regions Adopt Different Policies – Analysis

March 17, 2025
By Paul Goble

Moscow has not instilled a country-wide abortion ban, a move that would spark criticism in politically-sensitive and sizable population centers such as Moscow and St. Petersburg. Instead of a ban, the government has supported actions by federal subjects to restrict access to abortions, ensuring a difficult process that varies across the regions.

This array of regulations has caused abortions to be difficult to access in some regions and easier in others. This in turn has led to the emergence and growth of abortion tourism as women travel from abortion-restricted regions to others, or even abroad, where it is easier to access (Novaya Gazeta Europe, February 7; Veter, March 6). Using this approach, the Kremlin seeks to retain power while shifting responsibility for these restrictions onto individual regions, much as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic (see EDM, April 27, 2020). Such an approach, however, may backfire by lessening Moscow’s authority and demonstrating to citizens that laws can be bypassed.

Continued: https://www.eurasiareview.com/17032025-abortion-tourism-on-the-rise-in-russia-as-regions-adopt-different-policies-analysis/

17.03.2025

News

abortion tourism

Foundation for Emergency Contraception

Russia – Vologda Region Clinics Illegally Refusing Abortions, Lawmaker Says

Feb 28, 2025

State-run clinics in northwestern Russia’s Vologda region are illegally denying women abortions, a local lawmaker said Thursday.

Alexander Morozov, a member of the regional legislative assembly from the Communist Party, urged the prosecutor’s office to investigate the refusals, sharing a copy of his request on the social media site VKontakte.

“When the state prevents women from receiving legitimate medical services, it only exacerbates social tensions,” Morozov wrote.

Continued: https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/02/28/vologda-region-clinics-illegally-refusing-abortions-lawmaker-says-a88200

28.02.2025

Russia’s Vologda Region Moves Toward Total Abortion Ban

Feb 7, 2025
Moskva News Agency

Authorities in northwestern Russia’s Vologda region are considering banning abortions in both private and state-run clinics, a move that would make it the first Russian region to implement a total ban if approved.

Vologda region Governor Georgy Filimonov said Thursday that local officials plan to discuss the measure with representatives from public and private medical institutions later this month.

Continued: https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/02/07/russias-vologda-region-moves-toward-total-abortion-ban-a87904

07.02.2025

News

Georgy Filimonov

Russian Orthodox Church

Russia’s ‘Year Of The Family’ Has Meant A War On Abortion And Divorce

January 13, 2025
By Current Time and Chris Rickleton

With Russian President Vladimir Putin declaring 2024 the Year of the Family, the pressure was on lawmakers and local governments to go the extra mile.

They didn't disappoint.

From an intensifying campaign against abortions, new "family studies" classes for schoolchildren, and tougher hurdles to get divorced, last year saw Russia invade new territory in its fight for "traditional family values."

Continued: https://www.rferl.org/a/33273068.html

13.01.2025