The speaker of Russia’s Federation Council, Valentina Matvyienko urged Russian citizens to marry early and have at least three children before turning 35.Russian state news agency TASS reports that Matvyienko made the remarks at a meeting with the participants of the “Train of Memory” cultural and educational project. Her comments come as Russia faces its steepest demographic decline in decades, with births falling to 1.2 million in 2024, dropping a further 4% to 288,800 in the first quarter of 2025 and sliding to 272,000 in the same period of 2026.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.“I recommend falling in love early, marrying early, starting a family early,” Matvyienko said, adding that “Otherwise, you’ll keep ‘auditioning’ each other until you’re 30, and then you won’t want to take on the responsibility.”“And unfortunately, especially some young women say, ‘For me, career comes first, family comes later.’ Believe me,” she continued, “later comes tears into the pillow, loneliness, and no happiness.”Redefining “youth”Matvyienko argued against raising the legal age threshold for youth beyond 35, saying the current limit gives young Russian citizens a clear deadline to meet their reproductive and professional obligations. She said the government could revisit the cutoff only if young people themselves wanted to be classified as “youth” until 30, leaving the door open to future legislative changes.