Fact check: How accurate is this;https://news.rambler.ru/politics/51744272-petr-tolstoy-zayavil-chto-realnoe-chislo-abortov-vtroe-vyshe-ofitsialnogo/

1. Summary of the results

The claim about real abortion numbers being three times higher than official statistics cannot be directly verified from the provided analyses. However, we have clear data showing that Russia's official abortion statistics have been steadily and significantly declining over the decades:

• 467,000 abortions recorded in 2023 ^[1]
• 450,000 abortions in 2020 ^[2]
• 1.2 million in 2009 ^[2]
• 4.6 million in 1988 ^[3]

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original statement lacks crucial historical context:

• Russia has historically had extremely high abortion rates, reaching a peak of 5.46 million procedures in 1965 ^[2]
• The abortion rate was 303 procedures per 1,000 live births in 2022 ^[1]
• Between 1988 and 2015, there was a dramatic 5.5-fold decrease in abortion numbers ^[3]
• The decline is attributed to improved family planning and contraception awareness ^[3]

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

Several factors should be considered when evaluating this claim:

• The statement comes from a political figure, which warrants additional scrutiny
• Multiple independent sources, including Statista and demographic experts like Victoria Sakevich, confirm the declining trend in abortion numbers ^{[1] [3]}
• The consistent reporting across different time periods and sources suggests reliability in the official statistics
• Those opposing current government policies might benefit from claiming underreporting, while government officials might benefit from showing declining numbers as a policy success

The dramatic historical decline in abortion numbers is well-documented through multiple sources, making claims of significant underreporting harder to substantiate without concrete evidence.