Soviet reality deprived men of most of their traditional roles
In what way? From what I've managed to gather "machoism" is alive and well in Russia. And is probably part of the problem.
left them disoriented and unable to deal with reality
It was like that for everyone, not only for men. I mean, after the fall of the Soviet Union. It's just women were coping better with this than men. At least, that was the case in Poland (so, maybe also in Russia).
retreated into various types of dysfunction (alcohol, petty crime, worse....) and infantilism (depending on women to navigate life for them)
It was similar in Poland in the 90's, although I imagine not to such an extent as in Russia.
But I agree that the cult of Putin stems in part from how dysfunctional men were (and maybe still are?) in Russia. Women would like to have a husband/father like him and men - a father like him. Putin is also the opposite of Yeltsin of whom Russians felt ashamed of.
western feminists think that attacking and/or reversing traditional gender role models is liberating... nothing could be farther from the truth....
So, maf, do you think that women are only good for cooking, cleaning and taking care of children?