The church-led anti-abortion campaign backs the state-sponsored propaganda as the war in Ukraine slashed a large male population.

Churches in at least 15 Russian regions held a prayer service titled “for the admonition of those intending to kill a child in the womb” on 11 January, intended to reach for women planning to have an abortion, the Moscow Diocese confirmed on its website. 

The text of the prayer service was approved by the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) in late December 2025.

Admonition services took place in the Chelyabinsk, Tomsk, Khabarovsk, and Volgograd regions, among others, and were timed to coincide with the day commemorating a Biblical event – the killing of 14,000 infants in Bethlehem on the orders of King Herod. 

Russian media said some dioceses intend to hold this service on annual basis.

Since the start of the war in 2022, Russian authorities pushed their anti-abortion narrative to new levels. Clinics across the country are being pressured to stop performing abortions while women are being urged to carry pregnancies to term. 

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Although Russian women seek abortions for many of the same reasons women do elsewhere, things have become complicated for them since the launch of the Ukraine invasion.

As men go to war, many become single mothers or widows left to raise children alone. In Russia, they earn less than men, a fact that adds more pressure on the background of soaring prices – particularly food and medication.

Pregnancies often occur in unstable relationships. Some women are abandoned by partners or face pressure not to give birth. Domestic violence and alcohol abuse—persistent social problems in Russia—also influence decisions.

As the war goes on, insecurity about the future acts as the main factor discouraging pregnancies. An estimated 600,000 to 800.000 Russian men have lost their lives in the Ukraine war.