Russian Priest Says Women Should Have More Children So Sending Sons To War Isn't 'Painful'

A Russian soldier on patrol in Kherson AFP / Olga MALTSEVA

KEY POINTS

The priest made the remark in a response to a story about a woman who sent her son away to keep him from being drafted
About 700,000 people are believed to have fled Russia following Putin's partial mobilization order
Ukraine says at least 68,900 Russian soldiers have been killed in the war so far

A priest with the Russian Orthodox Church has said that women should bear more children to make it "less painful" for them to send their sons to the war in Ukraine, according to a report.

Mikhail Vasilyev, the rector of the Church of Great Martyr Barbara at the headquarters of the Strategic Missile Forces, made the comment in an interview with the Spas TV Channel.

"Every lady is allowed by God to give birth to a lot of children. And if the lady, in fulfilling the commandment 'be fruitful and multiply,' has renounced artificial means of pregnancy termination, in the broadest sense possible, then obviously she will have more than one child. This means that it will not be so painful and scary for her to part with it, even if just for a while", Vasilyev said in the interview, a clip of which was shared on Twitter by Ukrainian official Anton Gerashchenko. "The devil is not as scary as they paint him. If God does not give us up, a pig will not eat us."

Russian priest says that if women had as many children as God intended for them to have, they wouldn't be as sad when their sons are mobilized. pic.twitter.com/PPMpjAKgKY
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) October 25, 2022

The priest made the remark in a response to a story about a woman who "sold practically everything" to send her son to the Canary Islands in an effort to keep him from being drafted into the Russian army.

In late September, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization order calling up at least 300,000 Russian reservists to bolster its forces in Ukraine. As of Oct. 14, Putin said they drafted around 220,000 men into the army, adding that the mobilization drive will end "in two weeks."

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin on Oct. 17 announced they were ending the mobilization campaign in the city, adding that conscription notices would no longer be valid. It is unclear if Russia met its goal in its mobilization efforts.

According to estimates by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, at least 68,900 Russian soldiers have been killed since the war began in February. About 700,000 people are also believed to have fled Russia in the weeks following Putin's mobilization order, Forbes reported, as translated by Ukrainska Pravda.