A war of words erupted between Russian politicians as Putin crony called on Russian women to wear mini-skirts to address the country’s population decline.
Russian Liberal Democratic Party politician Evgeny Rudenko said that Russian women should wear mini skirts to meet boys like ‘in the 1970s’ because ‘no one bothered girls back then’.
The politician in the Kaluga region, an area around 120 miles southwest of Moscow, said: ‘Marriages were strong, and the demographic indicators were high.’
The comments caused backlash from other Russian politicians, but Rudenko caveated his theory by adding that he asks women ‘to wear miniskirts only on sunny days, not in the cold’.
He also posted a picture of a woman in a mini skirt.
It led to the head of a Russian parliamentary committee on ‘family protection’, Nina Ostanina, saying Rudenko’s comments were the ‘ravings of a madman’.
The communist MP, who was sanctioned by Western countries following Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, called on Rudenko to resign.
She said: ‘If for [Rudenko] the main concern is the length of skirts, then for me, the main worry is the size of the convolutions in his brain.’
Ms Ostanina added: ‘I would like to tell him not to measure the length of skirts but rather to assess the Russian language proficiency of migrant children.’
But father-of-two Rudenko hit back at critics, he was also criticised online, saying: ‘Only gays don’t like girls in miniskirts.’
Prominent traditionalist MP Vitaly Milonovs said: ‘Honestly, this is some kind of animalistic message, absolutely inhuman.
‘I even feel a bit embarrassed for this person, to be honest, that he thinks so primitively, that for him, a woman’s appearance equates to demographic growth.
‘I don’t know how things are personally going for him in terms of demographics, but one thing is certain—he probably needs to restrain his hormonal outbursts a little.’
Milonov himself is known for his strongly anti-homosexual views. He was once asked during the BBC documentary Reggie Yates’ Extreme, Russia – Gay and Under Attack if he thought homosexuals were dangerous,. He responded by saying: ‘A piece of s*** is not dangerous, but it’s quite unpleasant to see on the streets.
‘Homosexuality is disgusting. Homophobia is beautiful and natural.’
He has also presented a backwards TV show titled ‘I’m Not Gay’ in which contestants try and work out the homosexual candidate among them.
Putin has called the country’s decline in population its most important issue.
The Russian federal data service Rosstat said that the 3.4% decrease in births in 2024, when 1.22 million people were born, was the lowest level since 1999.
The population decline has also been compounded by Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Amid Putin’s drive to get his fellow countrymen to have more babies, Russian politicians have weighed in with suggestions of how to address the issue.
Health minister Dr Yevgeny Shestopalov said ‘being very busy at work is not a valid reason’ not to procreate, calling it a ‘lame excuse’.
He said couples should have sex during breaks at work.
The Russian region of Chelyabinsk, meanwhile, is paying female students under the age of 24 £8,500 for the birth of their first child.
Vice Chairman of the State Duma Anna Kuznetsova also said women should give birth from a young age.
She said: ‘You should start giving birth at 19-20 years old. Then, statistically, the family will be able to have three, four, or more children.’
MP Zhanna Ryabtseva added: ‘Give birth, give birth and give birth again, you need to give birth, give birth at 18.’
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