Since medieval times personifications of Russia are traditionally feminine, and most commonly are maternal.
Most common terms for national personification of Russia are:
Mother Russia (Russian: Россия-Матушка, transliterated as Rossiya-Matushka, also, Мать-Россия, Матушка Русь, Матушка Россия).
Mother Motherland (Russian: Родина-мать).
Notice that in Russian language, the concept of motherland is rendered by two terms: "родина", literally, "place of birth" and "отчизна", literally "fatherland".
Harald Haarmann and Orlando Figes see the goddess Mokosh a source of the "Mother Russia" concept.
During The October Revolution and The Civil War, the image was in the propaganda of the supporters of the White movement, interpreting the struggle against the Bolsheviks as a battle with "aliens" as "oppressors of Mother Russia".
During the Soviet times many statues of Mother Motherland had been constructed, most to commemorate the Great Patriotic War. These included:
The Motherland Calls (Russian: Родина-мать зовёт, Rodina Mat' Zovyot!) a colossal statue in Volgograd, Russia, commemorating the Battle of Stalingrad
Mother Motherland, Kiev (Ukrainian: Батьківщина-Мати) or, and more commonly referred to as, Rodina-Mat (Russian: Родина-мать) is a monumental statue that is a part of the Museum of The History of Ukraine in World War II.
Mother Motherland (Saint Petersburg), a statue at the Piskarevskoye Memorial Cemetery, St. Petersburg, Russia
Mother Russia (Kaliningrad), a monument in Kaliningrad, Russia
Mother Motherland Mourning over Her Perished Sons (Russian: Родина-мать, скорбящая о погибших сыновьях), Minsk, Belarus commemorating the dead in Afghanistan
Mother Motherland (Naberezhnye Chelny), a monument in Naberezhnye Chelny, Russia
Mother Motherland (Pavlovsk), a memorial complex, Pavlovsk, Russia
