Russian women should avoid sex with non-white foreign
men during the football World Cup because they could
become single mothers to mixed race children, a senior
lawmaker in Moscow said on Wednesday.
Even when Russian women marry foreigners the
relationships often end badly, said Tamara Pletnyova, head
of parliament's committee for families, women and
children. Women are often stranded abroad or in Russia but
unable to get their children back, she said.
She spoke in response to a question from a radio station
about the so-called "Children of the Olympics" after the
Moscow Games in 1980, a time when contraception was not
widely available in the country.
The term was used during the Soviet era to describe non-
white children conceived at international events after
relationships between Russian women and men from Africa,
Latin America, or Asia. Many of the children faced
discrimination.
"We must give birth to our children. These [mixed race] kids
suffer and have suffered since Soviet times," Pletnyova told
Govorit Moskva radio station.
"It's one thing if they're of the same race but quite another
if they're of a different race. I'm not a nationalist, but
nevertheless I know that children suffer. They are
abandoned, and that's it, they stay here with mum," she
said.
Pletnyova said she that she would like Russian citizens to
get married "out of love regardless of their ethnicity."
Another lawmaker said foreign fans could bring viruses to
the World Cup and infect Russians.
In comments to Govorit Moskva radio station, Alexander
Sherin also said Russians should be careful in their
interactions with foreigners as they might try to circulate
banned substances at the tournament.
Thousands of football fans from 31 countries are travelling
to the World Cup in Russia that kicks off on Thursday with
an opening ceremony in the capital followed by a match
between the host team and Saudi Arabia.
FIFA and the Russia 2018 organising committee did not
immediately respond to a request for comment about
Pletynova's remarks.
Pletnyova is a lawmaker for the KPRF Communist Party, a
nominally opposition party that backs President Vladimir
Putin's Kremlin on most key issues.
Russians make up the majority ethnicity in the country but
there are dozens of minority groups, as well as a large
labour migrant force predominantly from Central Asia and
the South Caucasus.