At the St Petersburg International Legal Forum, Deputy Minister of Justice Vadim Balanin declared that cohabitation without state registration of marriage constitutes a “direct threat to national security and demographic health”. He linked the trend to a broader erosion of traditional family structures, noting that the number of divorces of already registered marriages also remains significant. Balanin added that the West is undergoing a “revision of traditional values” that could undermine the foundations of Russian statehood, and that the Ministry of Justice supports measures to counter the destruction of traditional ideologies.

Other senior Russian officials reinforced the focus on family policy. Tatyana Butskaya, first deputy chair of the State Duma committee on family protection, told the outlet Pod’yom that cohabitation is becoming normalised among teenagers and young adults because family relationships have lost value, and that state support should concentrate on value-based work with children and adolescents. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov separately acknowledged that demography remains a “painful issue” and that Russia is in a difficult position from the standpoint of global demography. Federation Council speaker Valentina Matvienko proposed abolishing the 350-rouble marriage registration fee to remove a negative emotional barrier, suggesting that lost budget revenue could be compensated by raising the fee for divorce.

Balanin’s remarks form part of a multi-year campaign by Russian authorities to codify “traditional values” into law. The Ministry of Justice has been monitoring amendments to the Family Code for two years. In parallel, the authorities have designated the “international LGBT movement” as an extremist organisation, enacted a ban on propaganda of voluntary childlessness, and regional governments in roughly one-third of the country have restricted access to abortion. The State Duma has also declined to pass legislation on domestic violence, with some lawmakers arguing it could discourage men from marrying.

Despite these measures, Russia’s fertility rate remains at historic lows; the rural total fertility rate in 2025 was 1.464, the lowest since 1990. The population decline has been accentuated by the war in Ukraine since 2022, as noted in Spanish press reports. Viewed from Madrid, the intervention by the Justice Ministry is notable because national security matters are formally the responsibility of the Federal Security Service (FSB), an institution that has expanded its competencies and political influence in recent years. The framing of cohabitation as a security threat thus signals a further securitisation of social policy.

No specific legislative proposal has yet been tabled as a direct result of Balanin’s statement. The Ministry of Justice continues its monitoring of the Family Code, and the discussion at the forum, held under the session title “Strong Family as a Value Guideline of Family Legislation”, indicates that further debate on tightening family law is expected. The Federation Council’s suggestion on marriage fees remains under consideration.