Vladimir Putin is offering a tidy sum to any mum in Russia who can give birth to 10 children.
Suffering a steep population decline, the president is hoping the £13,000 sum will encourage more Russian women to have huge families to address the country's population decline.
The new decree was signed by Putin on Monday, August 15.
It is a revival of the Soviet-era title of ‘Mother Heroine' brought in by dictator Joseph Stalin following the massive casualties Russia suffered in World War 2.
Stalin also introduced the Order of Maternal Glory in third, second and first class.
The first class went to mothers who had nine children, while third class went to those who had seven.
The mums will receive the payment when their 10th child reaches the age of one and they will only receive the cash if all of their children are still alive.
Some exemptions apply if a child was killed in conflict or in a terrorist attack.
The title was stopped after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, but carries the prestige of other major state awards such as the Hero of Russia, for service to the state, and Hero of Labour aware, for outstanding services to "public, social and economic activities."
Russia has been suffering a steep population decline that hit a record rate in July of this year.
In 2021, the country's population shrank from 146 million to 145.3 million around 57,000 people a month, according to The Moscow Times’ Russian service.
It echoes a decades-long trend of population decline, the rate of which has gone up by almost doubling since 2021.
Alain Blum, a demographer at the National Institute for Demographic Studies, told France 24: "When the Soviet Union fell, the country plunged into a serious demographic crisis.
"For the first time, Russia’s mortality rate significantly exceeded its birth rate, leading to a decline in its population."
In 1992, an estimated 148.3 million people were living in Russia, but this had fallen again to 143 million at the turn of the century.
Blum added: "Today, people of childbearing age are those who were born during that period, and there simply aren’t enough of them to drive population growth."
Putin himself is said to consider the matter of extreme importance and mentions it in speeches, with some believing he considers the population a sign of how powerful the state is.
Further reports say that despite indications of heavy troop losses in Ukraine, this will have minimal impact on the overall population total.
As the war broke out, some experts predicted a drop in the birth rate, with economic uncertainty putting people off having a child.
Russian demographer Alexey Raksha said: "During economic crises, people are less inclined to have children, which is logical. Trust in the future plays a key role in a country’s birth rate."
