Volgograd: four parents of many children go on rotating hunger strike

On March 1, four parents of many children went in Volgograd on the so-called rotating hunger strike, demanding solution of their housing problems.

In total, the hunger strike will be held by four parents: Nadezhda Kireeva, a mother of many children, and her husband, and mothers of many children Olga Eschenko and Valentina Kharlashina. Kireeva and Eschenko were among the hunger-strikers in February 2014 with the same demand to the authorities.

The parents are going to hold their action in turn, standing on the steps of the regional administration in T-shirts with the inscription "Hunger strike of parents of many children".

The hunger strike will not solve the housing problems of mothers with many children, believes Raisa Skrynnikova, the chair of the Volgograd regional branch of the charity "Russian Children's Fund", who was present at the parents' meeting with officials on February 6.

"Families with many children, of course, need help, but there is no law obliging to give them apartments. The region has more than 21,000 families with many children, and almost 50 percent of them need housing improvement. The Russian Children's Fund has repeatedly appealed to the State Duma asking them to address the problems of large families; however the issue is not considered, because there is no budget for that. Now, even if mothers go on hunger strike, nobody will give them flats," said Skrynnikova.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.