Peace Without Poison

The Soviet Union began using covert depopulation measures on its own citizens in 1955 andcontinued its sustained program until 1967, which falls almost entirely within the leadership ofNikita Khrushchev (1955-1964). His successor, Leonid Brezhnev (1964-1982), continuedaggressively until Russia reached replacement level fertility in 1966 and then kept it there untilthe end of his term. The Soviet Union succeeded in reducing its total fertility rate from 3 to 2children per woman in twelve years.Yuri Andropov (1982-1984), Konstantin Chernenko (1984-1985), and Mikhail Gorbachev(1985-1991) held the fertility rate at replacement level.As soon as the Soviet Union disintegrated and the Russian Federation came into being in 1991,the total fertility rate began to drop rapidly. By the end of Boris Yeltsin’s presidency in 1999,Russia’s total fertility rate had declined to its historic low of 1.17 children per woman.677 | P a g e