freedom and democracy as practiced here in the empire brought this response from the putin, and its quite sensible;

West brands all inconvenient facts as 'Kremlin propaganda' — Putin

The Russian President has commented on the balance between the freedom of the press and national security

Russian media are trying to convey Moscow's

view on global issues but Western states are hiding from the "truth"

by dismissing every inconvenient fact as "propaganda, "President Vladimir Putin has said.

President Putin gave a written interview to the

Mongolian Onoodor newspagm ahead of his

visit to the country on Monday. Among other

things, he was asked about the freedom of the

press and how the West can champion it while

banning and suppressing Russian media.

"Almost all Western countries where our

journalists try to work are creating obstacles for

them, banning Russian television channels and

directly censoring our media and online resources, "Putin said, noting that this obviously "runs counter to the democratic principles of freedom of and the free flow of information. "