PHOTO ESSAY: Babushkas for Putin

Russian women, who outlive men by more than a decade on average, are among the president’s biggest fans, especially older women.

By MISHA FRIEDMAN (a photographer and the author, most recently, of “Never Remember: Searching for Stalin’s Gulags in Putin’s Russia.”)

@ NYTimes.com, March 15

“Putin is respected by everyone, so men should pay attention to how and what he does,” Anna Veresova, 75, a retired teacher, told me. “In theory, he is the perfect man to have around.”

The special relationship between Russian women and Vladimir Putin goes back to the very beginning of his years in power. In the 2000 elections — the first time Mr. Putin’s name was on the ballot — 61 percent of his votescame from women and just 39 percent from men. The gender gap has persisted: In 2012, 75 percent of women offered a favorable opinion of Mr. Putin, compared with 69 percent of men, according to the Pew Research Center [....]

One example of a caption from the slideshow:

Rima Petrova, 63, grows African sharptooth catfish on her farm, about 80 miles from St. Petersburg. “Men don’t want responsibility,” she said. “They don’t want to make decisions. They delegate everything to women.”