Erm... your definition of "free" and "good" ought to be fairly unusual to believe that statement. I think the likelihood of a UK journalist to be murdered by the UK government is 10000x smaller than the analogous probability in Russia. As to "very good life" - while quality is subjective, the quantity of life the average Joe is expected to have (aka life expectancy) is certainly less than it is in the UK.

And to reply to a sister comment - you don't have to be gay to run into various trouble you wouldn't expect to run into in the West, though being one will likely make matters worse.

You'r belief on the likelihood probability is not factual, it's based on claims of a side in geopolitical confrontation, the one you choose to believe, because that's where you live.

It is certainly true that standard of living is lower in Russia, but is better than many other countries you consider "free".

Even though it's beside the point, I personally was born in Russia. A lot of Russian journalists opposing the government were murdered, for instance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Politkovskaya

When you demand "facts", do you demand definite proof that the government did it (a bloody hard thing to obtain in the case of a murdering government), or are you claiming that the UK murders a similar amount of journalists?

As to "countries that I consider free" - I don't know where you get insight into my thinking; I was talking specifically about the UK which the grandparent brought up.

I have to admit that I'm sick and tired of relativism brought to a point where black and white are supposed to be indistinguishable. Seriously, who'd you rather fuck with, the Putin government or the current UK government? I think we all know the answer. Why are people wishing to sound "objective" so eager to ignore the obvious?

He probably meat that "unclear murders" do happen in UK and elsewhere too. See for example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Kelly_%28weapons_expert%...

Unfortunately, things are looking very grim for average Joe in Russia. The oil party, and the easy gains that came with it, are over.

"The number of middle-class Russians could halve to 20 percent, taking it back to the same level as after the 1998 default and devaluation, says Evgeny Gontmakher, chief economist at the Institute of Contemporary Development, whose board of trustees is headed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev."

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-23/putin-s-mi...

As long as you don't step out of line:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26265230

Which is why you're seeing all of the young, educated, upwardly mobile UK residents itching to move to Moscow. </sarcasm>

To be fair, he said "the average Joe", not "the young, educated, upwardly mobile."

As long as you're not gay.

The same way you're not free being game in a religiously conservative population that did not undergo sexual revolution of the 60s. Gay people are not hunted and jailed like someone might want you believe. In regards to gay freedoms, Russia is where US was in the 80s, things are changing.

Серьезно? Нет. Владимир Владимирович хочет, чтобы вы поверили в это. Не верю.