Russian students can now get cash payments for having babies as Kremlin struggles with birth rate at ‘catastrophic’ low

(Credit: Alexey Nikolsky—AFP/Getty Images)

• Some female college students in Russia can now receive payments for giving birth to healthy babies. This comes as the country’s birth rate hit a “catastrophic” low last year while Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine has resulted in heavy casualties and a mass exodus.

The new year brings with it new laws in Russia, where nearly a dozen regional governments will now pay female college students to give birth to healthy babies.