OMG, you are completely clueless or dishonest to reality in Russia. How is Russia freer than the US when you have no right to assembly and speech in Russia? Its almost impossible for the opposition to get a permit to protest in Russia.
Freedom of religion in Russia does not exist. The Russian government is harassing Protestants, Evangelical Christians and Orthodox that do not follow the Moscow Patriarch.
"In practice, however, this right is severely limited both de jure and de facto by federal legislation, an array of regional and local regulations, and an opaque system of bureaucracy. As IMR’s March report on protest trends noted: “Today, there exists a web of criminal and administrative laws that punish participation in unsanctioned protests while also making it incredibly difficult for organizers to receive a permit for protests.”
https://imrussia.org/en/analysis/3205-more-limits-proposed-on-freedom-of-assembly-in-russia
"Now even those staging peaceful, one-person pickets are regularly detained in Russia."
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46702417
"Six-year prison sentence for Jehovah's Witness in Russia sparks outcry" https://religionnews.com/2019/02/08/six-year-prison-sentence-for-jehovahs-witness-in-russia-sparks-outcry/
"Russia's Newest Law: No Evangelizing Outside of Church" https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2016/june/no-evangelizing-outside-of-church-russia-proposes.html
No, YOU ARE. I watch YouTubers from Russia show what life is like there everyday. Some of them even brutally go after Putin and are critical of the government.
Putin directly is involved with Russian Orthodox Church. The number one attraction in "Golden Ring" of cities in Russia are churches.
There are even Americans that have moved to Russia with their spouses and eight kids to become Orthodox priests there.
Russia has allowed gay marriage and has banned the promotion of homosexuality. No gay pride parades or activists harassing business owners to bake gay wedding cakes there.
You're the one that believes the Deep State lies about Russia. Deep State lied about Russian collusion and tried to use it to overturn the election results. But, you just can't believe you're being lied to about Russia, can you?
They are not harassing the Orthodox church. Putin openly attends Orthodox services and promotes the Orthodox church. Look up all the videos of Putin in attendance at one.
The worst that can be said is that the Russian government favors the Orthodox church over other denominations but the government bends over backward to accommodate it and defend laws that protect Judeo-Christian morality.
As I said, Americans have moved to Russia to become Orthodox priests. Father Joseph Gleason moved there with his eight kids because Russia prevents gay marriage, homosexuality from being promoted and because it was easier there to homeschool his eight kids than in the US:
https://www.pravmir.com/us-orthodox-priest-wife-and-8-children-move-to-russia-rostov-the-great-interview/
We didn’t want our children studying in government schools, so we homeschooled them. The USA is a good country in many ways, with many good people. But for various reasons, my family and I no longer felt good about living there. I was looking for a different country where we could live, and I began to research countries with strong Orthodox traditions: Serbia, Georgia, Greece, and of course Russia.
In Russia it is possible to find people who practice the homosexual lifestyle, but it is not promoted by the Government. And as St. Paisios says: When an individual sins, God punishes the individual, but when the government sins, God punishes the whole nation. I don’t know if it will take 10 years, or if it will take 50 years, but if America does not repent, then the nation will fall. The second reason was related to foreign policy. They put hundreds of military bases around the world, and have supported numerous unjust wars. And whenever they bring war to Orthodox lands, it seems that they are always attacking Christians, rather than protecting them.
However bad the leader of Iraq may have been, at least he protected the Christians who lived there. But after war was forced upon Iraq, the Christian populations were mercilessly exiled or slaughtered. There were around one million Christians there prior to the war, and today there are virtually zero.
And, he is free speak out against evils like Black Lives Matter in Russia:
https://orthodoxyindialogue.com/2020/06/15/from-russia-with-love-white-privilege-does-not-exist-black-lives-matter-is-ignorant-hypocritical-by-priest-joseph-gleason/