Vladimir Putin, who has long cultivated an aura of machismo as Russia's strongman leader, is enlisting women to grow Russia's population through childbirth and to rebuild his nation as a great power steeped in traditional family values — a campaign that is eroding equal rights and protections, human rights advocates and Russian feminists say.

"Many of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers had seven or eight children, and maybe even more," Putin declared to an audience of ultraconservative religious and political figures who had convened in the State Kremlin Palace in November. "We should preserve and revive these wonderful traditions."

Putin, who spoke by video link from his office in Sochi in southern Russia, appeared on a massive screen flanked by two images of the "Icon of the Savior, Made-Without-Hands," suggesting godlike status as he urged Russian women to give birth to very large families. Russian officials, echoing their leader, are telling women to start young — at 18.

As Putin seeks to restore Russia's status as a superpower, his revanchist policies are rolling back women's rights, Russian feminists say, with idealized roles fitted to the imperial era that predated communism. Women are being told to forgo education and careers to prioritize child-rearing, even as the war in Ukraine drains men from the workforce, creating critical labor shortages

Russia's low birth rate and relatively short life expectancies have caused consternation in the Kremlin for decades, and many other countries have similarly struggled with declining populations, seeking to encourage childbirth with more-generous social benefits. But Putin has set Russia apart by declaring the effort a matter of national security and tying it to the war in Ukraine.