At Sterligov’s log cabin about 100 kilometers northwest of Moscow one recent afternoon, hens pecked grain from the snow in front of the porch as he scolded his four sons — aged 4 to 12 — for neglecting to feed the chickens properly and for “messing up the stove.”
His wife, Alyona Sterligova, who wears a traditional Russian Orthodox head scarf, and a teenage daughter also help him run the farm.
Until 2004, Sterligov was, by his own account, a tycoon with hundreds of millions of dollars in the bank, dozens of businesses, offices on Wall Street and in London and a villa in Rublyovka, a Moscow suburb for the superrich.
If more Russians were like this guy, they would be better off. At the very least, they would not be having the demographic problems they are having now. If you read the whole article, you will find that he even home schools his kids.
Edit: Found this BBC article with more.
I know people like this in real life, and their life is often far from ideal. Sometimes their kids grow up hating their parents, sometimes they grow up grateful. It is a mistake to assume either that Sterligov’s family is happy or that they feel oppressed. But given Russia’s current state, I think his family could have it a lot worse no matter what their family life is like.