New star in Russian politics is mother to 10 children

If she were an Indian, she would probably be a star of the BJP. Maria Lvova-Belova, Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights, has never been nationally famous until recently. By now there is a talk in political circles about her future role as, possibly, even a prime minister. Why not?

Maria’s interview with an American resource VICE News, this week, has been widely discussed next to everywhere in Russia. That was about her being accused of “stealing” and “deporting” about ‘20,000’ Ukrainian children. You may say, the lady got herself really noticed by the Russian public, thanks to that interview.

It has been known that Moscow was conducting a massive operation of aiding civilians from East Ukraine to move to Russia’s inner regions, if and when they were willing, to escape the war and incessant Ukrainian shelling of civilian areas, with hospitals and schools. And then there were orphan homes, to be handled with special care, and that was quite a task for a lady appointed to her commissionership in 2021, not long before the war.

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By now, many of the 2,000 (not 20K) children in question are back, but several hundred have been adopted by Russian foster parents. And that’s an amazing fact, telling us a lot about the general mood in Russia, where adopting children is glorious now. Maria Lvova-Belova is not just a part of that mood, she is one of the people who has been creating it for years.

We are talking about a lady, 38, with five children of her own and five adopted, living in her family. It used to be nine kids in the household, but Maria has fostered yet another boy of 15, whom she met during one of her numerous trips to the East Ukraine territories, now incorporated into Russia. In her own words, “My heart called me to him (…) they were found in the basements, it was a group of 31 children, mostly teenagers… We talked to them, and you know, my heart skipped a beat and I realized that this was my child.”

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Last week, the same lady became, by video, one of the stars of a United Nations Security Council meeting, summoned by Russia, currently chairing the SC. The topic was the “deported children of Ukraine”. That was real carnage, witnessed by plenty of people on our TV. The Brits or Americans at that meeting were demanding facts and explanations, and when facts and explanations followed, these worthy diplomats were running out of the hall before these were produced.

But still the facts kept piling on. Russia’s representative, Vasily Nebensya, quoted some totally unexpected and confirmed facts about Ukrainian children, forcefully taken from their parents in Spain, or Germany, or Portugal, and placed in orphanages. These are the children of refugees, you see, and the refugees cannot provide for them properly, so there you are.

How do you know about it, somebody asked. Easily, was the answer: The refugees asked Ukrainian diplomats for help, which could not be provided, so some Ukrainian diplomats quietly and very unofficially turned to their Russian colleagues for advice. That’s how facts and some documents had been obtained by Moscow.

And then the angelic face of Maria turned up on the video screen. “What is she doing up there, if there is an order for her arrest, together with President Vladimir Putin, for kidnapping Ukrainian children”, wailed some European diplomat.

The order has been issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, and you may ask, what kind of international court is that if it’s not been recognized by India, or Russia, or the US, and many others? But what matters is the fact that if you are under such order or under any sanctions by Western nations, your political standing in Russia goes up. While if you are not yet under sanctions, your future in Russian politics is getting dim.

Maria’s future is far from being clear-cut. First, she is just too good for some people’s liking. Ten children in the family, plus thirteen others under her official personal guardianship make her just too saintly for her rivals’ tastes.

And, second, somehow she is a born manager. Most of her career has been in social work. First, it was the physically challenged, in need of social accommodation, as in finding a good job for someone without a limb or two. Then she concentrated on young invalids, in need of special care. Then came the orphanages. And that’s how she was noticed by the United Russia party, elevating her straight to the Senate, and now to the position of the Commissioner.

So, who may dislike her rise to national fame and glory? Here you have to know that there are many underwater currents in Russian politics. Maria Lvova-Belova is a provincial from the city of Penza – that’s OK for her party. Her double name, as in England, means lineage, most probably to the old merchant class – that’s not a problem either. But it’s been widely rumoured she is a “candidate of the Church”, and there is a lot of big city boys who find that disturbing, as in to antiglobalist. Did I say that if she were an Indian, she would probably be a star of the BJP? I did, right from the start.

Maria is married to a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church, to boot. Her husband used to be a computer programmer but then went to a Church seminary and was ordained to the priesthood, which, incidentally, meant a much lower income. That’s complete outworlds for many people in big cities.

I’d say that it’s the style that will decide her fate in the end. Maria is soft, and that, too, is a political issue in Russia. Women have not always been successful in our politics, obtaining a reputation of being unnecessarily harsh and bossy, when in politics. Mother Maria with her children could be a welcome change in that regard.

The author is a columnist for the Russian State agency website ria.ru, as well as for other publications. Views expressed are personal.

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