Outdated idea of masculinity the key to Putin's war 

In the last decade, anti-gay rhetoric and traditional masculinity have taken a central position in Vladimir Putin’s policies, but why are "Western” gender freedoms portrayed as an existential threat in Russia?

People wave gay rights' movement rainbow flags during a gay pride rally in Saint Petersburg in 2017; it took over a decade for Putin to start oppressing the LGBT community — mainly to contradict values in the West. Picture: Olga Maltseva/AFP via Getty Images

Assistant professor at the School of Sociology at UCD, Alexander Kondakov, has been researching law and sexuality in Russia for a number of years, he says Russian president Vladimir Putin represents an outdated kind of masculinity.

"It is something I hope we are leaving behind,” says the researcher.