This article was already posted at least twice on FR. That said, I have to ask if you know who runs Freedom House. You will find Steve Forbes and another conservative on the board, but basically they are an African-American left wing group.
Liberals, i.e. useful idiots, are likened to canaries in that when they start to complain about the troubles in other countries it means they fear the leaders or the system in place which means they are more ruthless than the liberal mind commenting on the subject and thus should be taken seriously non the less.
And your point being ????? Freedom House is not the only source that has verified this information. Putin is trying to rebuild the Soviet Union. He rigged his own election, the referendum in Belarus and the first Ukraine election. He has put all his KGB buddies in positions of power, suspended elections of Governors, brought back the red star and the Soviet anthem. And something else for you to chew on, Russia and China plan on doing joint military exercises next year. The last ones they had in 1999 had the scenario of China attacking Taiwan, the U.S. responding and Russia starting an all out nuclear war against U.S. troops. He needs to be watched carefully.
I give them a lot of credit for giving Cuba the lowest score possible and giving Israel the only "Free" ranking in the Middle East.