Russia, which is in a demographic crisis, wants people to stop using dating apps in Kursk and other regions

• Russia has warned against using dating apps in border regions amid Ukraine's incursion.
• Russian authorities cited security concerns, saying Ukraine was using apps to gather intelligence.
• Russia faces a demographic crisis — its population could be halved by the end of the century.

Russia has a population crisis, but it isn't keen on the use of dating apps in certain regions.

On Tuesday, Russia's interior ministry urged people in the border regions of Bryansk, Kursk, and Belgorod not to use dating apps amid Kyiv's incursion into Russian territory.

"The use of online dating services is strongly discouraged. The enemy is actively using them to gather information," a spokesperson for Russia's internal affairs ministry was quoted as saying by the news agency Interfax, according to a Moscow Times translation.

Homegrown apps have taken over Russia's online-dating market after the Western dating apps Tinder, Bumble, and Badoo exited the market .

On Tuesday, Russian authorities also advised residents of the border regions not to use security cameras and not to stream videos on roads where military vehicles were present.

"The enemy is identifying IP address ranges in our territories, remotely accessing unprotected security cameras, monitoring everything from private yards to strategic roads and highways," Russia's interior ministry said.

The warnings came after Ukraine launched a surprise invasion into Russia's Kursk region on August 6. On Tuesday, Ukraine's military leadership said its forces had captured more Russian territory than what Moscow's forces have seized in Ukraine since the start of 2024.

Russia's population could be halved by the end of this century

An Atlantic Council report earlier this month said Russia's demographic crisis was so dire that the country's population could be halved by the end of the century.

Russia was in a demographic crisis even before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

More than 300,000 Russian troops died or were injured in the Ukraine war by the end of 2023, US intelligence officials estimated. An estimated 1 million people fled Russia after the war broke out, deepening a brain drain and labor crunch in the country.

Overall, Russia's population growth has declined over the past decade, World Bank data shows.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is paying special attention to demographic issues.

In November, he extolled the virtues of large families, calling on women to have eight children — or more.

Earlier this year, Putin called on Russians to have more babies for ethnic survival .