During a live interview on 19 December, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised child marriages, citing both the practice in general in the North Caucasus and the marriages within Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov’s family, saying it was a ‘very good tradition’

Putin’s comment came in response to a question by a 23-year-old audience member about his long-term relationship with his girlfriend

Putin went on to praise the people of the Caucasus as having a ‘very good tradition’, saying that it consisted of parents marrying off their children at a fairly early age. He said that, in his opinion, this is something others should emulate

‘Among the peoples of the Caucasus there is a very good tradition: they marry off their children at a fairly early age. This is really right, we should take an example from them. How do I know? Ramzan Kadyrov has a large family, many children, and they marry and get married at a fairly early age. He told me that this is their tradition, generally across the Caucasus. And that is very good’, Putin said

Putin also stated that this is ‘really right’ and beneficial for the formation of family life. He linked the discussion to the problem of declining birth rates and to the difficulties that, in his view, young people, especially women, face when trying to combine education and careers with family life

In his Telegram channel, Kadyrov called Putin’s praise of his family a great honour and stated that, in his opinion, without a strong family, a meaningful marriage and the birth of children, neither the development of the state nor the preservation of spiritual and moral foundations is possible

Kadyrov stressed that marriage and the birth of children are a sacred duty for the residents of the Chechen Republic[…]He thanked the president for the high assessment of his family and said he intended to continue adhering to ‘traditional values’