The large-scale persecution of Christians began in Ukraine. Everything that happened earlier was a preparation of the godless authorities for the sake of which "pocket churches” were created. The news media controlled by Kyiv openly call on Ukrainians to prepare for a “new baptism”, outlawing all the sacraments previously performed by the priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Summary
When imposing sanctions against Russian parties, European officials imposed sanctions against the choice of the Russian people. This is because the political forces represented in the State Duma directly express the interests of Russian citizens.
Disproof
Pro-Kremlin disinformation claim on sanctions, this time implying that the Russian political system is a democracy in which members of the State Duma are true representatives of the Russia people. The claim was neither counterbalanced nor critically challenged in the article.
The level of democratic freedoms in Russia has been steadily declining since the 1990s. In 2005, Freedom House changed Russia's classification from "partly free" to "not free," due to "the virtual elimination of influential political opposition parties within the country and the further concentration of executive power" (p. 519). By 2021, according to the watchdog's criteria, Russia had scored only 5 points out of 40 in the "Political Rights" section, including 0 points out of 12 in the "Electoral Process" sub-section and 3 out of 12 in the "Political Pluralism and Participation" sub-section.
In fact, in the run-up to the Duma elections in 2021, there was an increased crackdown on opposition politicians, civil society organisations and independent media outlets, as well as journalists. This was especially the case against supporters of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. This resulted in the limitation of the choice for Russian voters and their ability to get full and accurate information about candidates.