President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that women are a “great fascination for Russia”, whose country, which invaded Ukraine, is facing a severe labor shortage exacerbated by mobilization at the front, AFP reported.

“Girls are a huge reserve for Russia. In the fields where they do not yet work, they should use their potential to the maximum,” the Russian president urged during a meeting with the winners of the professional competition.

“Why can’t girls study (in certain fields, — editor’s note), get an education and work successfully?” he asked.

As an example, he cited, in particular, the fact that women can become pilots in the army.

“The minister (Serhiy Shoigu) said he was doing great, although it always seemed like a ‘male-only’ profession,” he said.

The Russian president, a defender of “traditional values” in the face of what he sees as a decadent West, however, spoke about the “limits” of such changes in the labor market, for example, “related to the health” of women.

The 2022 conflict in Ukraine exacerbated the country’s existing demographic problems: several hundred thousand reservists were mobilized and sometimes killed or wounded at the front, while many others fled abroad to avoid conscription.

This has led to severe labor shortages that still persist in many sectors such as construction, agriculture, IT, which tend to be male-dominated.

Vladimir Putin’s speech came days after he began campaigning ahead of next March’s presidential election, a vote that would see him remain in the Kremlin until at least 2030.