Despite the significant suffering of Russian soldiers' wives, mothers, siblings, and girlfriends, the majority have supported the Kremlin in the killing of their men. They weep at the temporary monuments for Yevgeny Prigozhin, the late leader of the semi-military Wagner Group, yet demonstrate little empathy for the women of their former sister republics. Some exhibit pride in their "protectors," encouraging them to assault Ukrainian women if the opportunity arises. In packed concert halls across the country, girls ecstatically sing "Ya Russki" (I am Russian), the country's new patriotic hymn, endorsing its call to "fight to the end" and "take on the whole world." The essence, as stated by Anastasia Edel, a Russian-born American writer and social historian, and author of "Russia: Putin’s Playground," teaching at the University of California Berkeley, is clear in her writings for Foreign Policy.

Russian women, historically viewed as exemplars of strength, patience, and sacrifice in the country's history, now stand by Russian men's transgressions. Russia's most infamous propagandists, Margarita Simonyan of Russia Today, Olga Skabeeva of the Russia-1 television channel, and Maria Zakharova, the brash spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are all women.

Supporting them are less-known yet influential figures. The "Putin Brigade," a group of activist grandmothers, no longer just sits on benches but works to mobilize masses behind President Vladimir Putin and his war. They have called on the US President Joe Biden to stop "NATO's war against Russia" and urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to surrender. The "Red Dress Project," backed by an organization led by one of Putin's relatives, mobilizes women across Russia. Dressed in red, they march through public squares to unite Russians behind their leader.

THE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT IMPORTANT MATTERS

In other ways, too, women support the war. In her hometown, the author describes her mother's acquaintances making camouflage nets for Russian troops and teaching children to make trench candles to send to the battlefield. In schools, teachers primarily women now hold responsibility for the patriotic education of children. The government-mandated weekly "Conversations About Important Matters" lessons involve discussions on Kremlin-approved topics, war spirit nurturing from an early age forming Z patterns, organizing visits, and armed demonstrations for "the defenders of the homeland," and even involving children in weapons production. Teachers who disagree with the war or try to evade this duty are often reported usually by other women then dismissed or forced to resign.

Women weren't always this compliant. In 1917, they took to the streets to protest against food shortages and the monarchy, precipitating the strike that triggered the Russian revolution. More recently, the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia played a significant role in having Boris Yeltsin, the then-President, end the war in Chechnya in 1996.

RESISTANCE HAS RECEDED

However, during the nearly two years of Russian bloodshed in Ukraine, individual acts of heroism can still be found. For instance, Marina Ovsyannikova, an employee of Russian state television, called on viewers on air to disbelieve the state's lies about the war. Sasha Skochilenko substituted supermarket labels with messages about Russia's crimes in Ukraine. These actions have not gone unpunished. The former has since fled the country, while the latter was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Subversive performance art, once a method of female resistance, is now gone. Members of the feminist band Pussy Riot, after serving prison time for their anti-Putin songs, now live in exile, raising money to support the Ukrainian military. Today, mere suspicion of "radical feminism" can lead to imprisonment. Svetlana Petrichuk, a playwright, and Evgenia Berkovic, a theatrical director who created an award-winning play about Russian women marrying Islamic State terrorists, were accused of "justifying terrorism" and imprisoned in May 2023. According to Edel, those privately disagreeing with the war, whose numbers can only be guessed, keep their opinions to themselves.

It's hard to determine how much of the war's 70 percent approval rating is due to fear, propaganda, or ignorance, but one thing is clear: since the invasion's inception, Russia's already poor moral compass has irreparably broken. Women, once guardians of life, must now participate in Putin's death show, writes the author.