Tyva, Praised by Putin for Its High Birthrate, Plagued by Flood of Underground Abortions

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 30 – Tyva, a Buddhist republic east of the Urals, has one of the highest birthrates of any federal subject and has been praised by Vladimir Putin for that. One reason that its birthrate is so high, he and others appear to believe, is that at present, Tyvan women can get abortions at only one clinic there.

            But a new study by the Wind Project which tracks women’s health finds that what the absence of medical facilities to get legal abortions has led to is a growing number of underground abortions women are performing on themselves with drugs they obtain via the internet (veter.info/posts/2LeplejbeHbH reposted at novayagazeta.eu/articles/2025/05/30/na-kazhdom-shagu-vashi-tabletki).

            Many of these medications do not in fact lead to abortions and often leave the women with more serious medical problems, especially because they are taken secretly and without medical supervision. The Wind Project report thus documents what is likely to be the real consequence of the Putin regime’s war on legal abortions: more suffering and more tragedies.