First of all, there IS NOT freedom of media in Russia.
There is no freedom of press anywhere. If you are on a big screen, you are doing what you have you been paid for. No exeptions.
Just pay attention how unisongly and well coordinated Western media depicted MH17 catastrophe of presumable poison of Skripals.
Secondly, Putin doesn't sit down with a black marker pen and say "I'm censoring this".
Exactly. And that's why a journalist, with however developed self-preservation instinct haven't direct telepatic connection with Putin or intelligence service and sometimes simply can't make fact-check fast enough. The said picture was posted in internet by putnik1 (if I recall correctly) or other "First-wave Russian Spring Patriot" (and who lately screwed up, and found himself in Spain).
That's the difference between official statement (which is usually true, a bit of something that's not a truth, but definitely not the whole truth) and a journalist investigation and expert speculations.
He works on the basis of "if you ** up, I'll ** you up". That fear means that they wouldn't have posted that picture, if Putin didn't want it.
She or he didn't have much time and was already in internet, hitting tops. So, it's just risk balance. And journalists in Russia are basically a bit more free than in America, and more risk-prone.
Putin would have been all over the issue. He'd have known what was going on, because it was a huge issue for him. He couldn't be seen as the one who shot it down, and he couldn't be seen as the one supporting those who did.
Why not? Everybody already know that both Obama and Putin could directly authorize shoot down of a neutral civilian aircraft, or both Russian and Ukrainian (in fact also Russian) soldiers could f#ck up.
But given the quality of western "investigation" which even included obviously faked video and lack of proper expertise, and ignored certain facts, it seems much more possible that it was shoot down by Ukrainian forces.
What Putin does do, A LOT, is cheap mind games. He puts things in the media that sow the seed of doubt into people's minds.
In Old Western Civilization this thing was named "critical thinking". You know, when you try to examine all possibilities. Don't know how you call it now, in your Orwellian dystopian system.
Oldthink, may be?
"Oh, it wasn't Russia, it wasn't Russian backed rebels, it was the Ukraine, and here's the proof".
The spinal reflexes of the journalists: 1) It were not we; 2) They deserved it; 3) We could and probably should do much more harm.
Denialism,
victim-blaming and
menacing, you call them nowadays, I believe.
Easy, and worked for the whole time before they figured out it was a SAM rather than an air to air missile.
Who knows. In Russian military forums we even discussed possibility of a US Stealth fight shoot it down by a long range air-to-air missile without being traced by Russian radars.
The Skripals' murder attempt "oh, Porton Down also has this chemical". Not "we didn't do it", not "the British did it" but "well, it could theoretically have been the British because we think they have this chemical". They know it wasn't the British, because they know they did it.
I don't know that it wasn't British. And given the "investigation", the simplest explanation I see, is that two citizens of Russian Federation were kidnapped and, probably, killed by the British special services. Everything else is just smoke and mirrors.
Thirdly, if someone doesn't want to see the truth, they'll not see the truth. The ONLY proof you'd accept was if Putin came out and said "yes, **** the Ukraine, we're killing their people", and you know it. You're doing what Putin does, probably because you're being paid to come on here and deny things just like everyone else being paid by Putin does.
There are different things. First of all, it was quite open information that we are assisting in self-defence of our people in Ukraine. Both governmentally and individually. Hell, I've personally have been helping my friends from Donetsk and Mariupol (and not only there), mostly with money and expertise.
Of course, you never know, who exactly will be declared by the government as traitor and terrorist tomorrrow, but sometimes men do what should be done, whatever are risks and whatever are personal consequences for them.