The number of newborns has decreased by 3% compared to last year, according to Russian Academy of Sciences data Russia’s birth rate this year is expected to be the lowest in three decades, according to a demographics specialist at the Russian Academy of Sciences. Vadim Bezverbny called for a “systemic approach” to resolving the problem in an interview with the Eurasian News Agency published on Tuesday. The outlook remains largely pessimistic as the population could decline by 6.2 million people