Russians must choose between their freedoms/rights and a minimal standard of living. The fact of the matter is: given Russia's vast resources, size, and capabilities -- the quality of life should be so much better for the *majority* of people, not just the oligarchs - whose spoils only seem to spill over into Moscow and St. Petersburg and leave the rest of Russia out to rot. Unless...of course, you're by a World Cup stadium. Then you may have received some infrastructure funding at least temporarily. (The oligarchs don't even live in Russia, but are on their estates out West or yachts somewhere.)
Again and again the people of Russia are confronted with the faustian bargain of selling their souls to the State in exchange for some security. If you dare to protest, dare to confront the State's corruptions and propaganda: say bye-bye to the little that you've worked for. The Kremlin has since raised the pension age, so you don't even get that anymore until you're dead.
Ukraine has a long way to go in escaping the legacy of being under the Imperial and Soviet thumb of its neighbor, but at least right now: there is true *freedom of religion.* The Kremlin can't even afford its (non-Orthodox) Christian people that. And Ukrainians have more travel mobility in neighboring Europe.
The one thing that holds Russia back, and has always held them back, is the systemic political corruption at all levels, from local to national.
Ukraine is exponentially worse...
Much of it is a leftover from the Soviet Legacy, but it goes back much farther than that.
And this is what the leadership of the modern Democratic Party aspires to.
On this you are right, but the quality of life is steadily improving and has been for quite a while. The Russian middle class is quite vibrant in terms of real purchasing power.
Again and again the people of Russia are confronted with the faustian bargain of selling their souls to the State in exchange for some security.
This is quite dramatic. Have you been in Russia at any point in the last ten years? Most people don't have reason to think about life in these terms, because the state simply doesn't bother them.
The Kremlin has since raised the pension age, so you don't even get that anymore until you're dead.
This is factually incorrect, the pension age question has not yet been settled...even though it needs to, as the Russian pension ages have not been adjusted since the end of the USSR, even though life expectancy has dramatically increased.
Ukraine has a long way to go in escaping the legacy of being under the Imperial and Soviet thumb of its neighbor, but at least right now: there is true *freedom of religion.* The Kremlin can't even afford its (non-Orthodox) Christian people that. And Ukrainians have more travel mobility in neighboring Europe.
What does "true freedom of religion" mean? There are Russian Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Baptists, other Protestants, etc. living in Russia without any issues whatsoever. If you are referring to the issues with the JW and other cults, good for them, it is not a bad goal to keep these types of corrosive influences out of a nation. Most of the people these laws target are immigrants who specifically come to Russia to spread this garbage, and every nation has the right to control who immigrates to it.
Aside from that, what does freedom of religion give you if the average person has virtually no economic opportunity, no way to build a future? This is the real Ukraine.