Historically Russia has had a long tradition of government repression of liberalism. The Tsars crushed the first democratic rebels at the turn of the century, and one of the priests leading them allegedly lost his faith when he saw the Tsar’s forces attack the poor, shouting ‘there is no Tsar, there is no God’. The two were firmly linked in the Russian consciousness. Orlando Figes, a historian of the Revolution noted that Romans 13:1 was a key catechetical text for the Russian Orthodox Church which taught that the government authorities were placed there by God. As such, to rebel against the government was to rebel against God Himself.
In recent days, a group of hooligans, whose name is too vulgar to soil this webpage, was arrested for protesting in the sacred Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. They sung mocking religious songs invoking Our Lady the Blessed Theotokos to become a feminist, and parodied the Sanctus with curses. There was some legal controversy as to whether this ought to be considered a hate crime or free speech. Whatever some might say, Russia has never dealt well with liberalism. Even the freedom of religion offered by the government is only upon the State’s recognition of each sect specifically.
When the Communists fell, it seemed a foregone conclusion that the Russian Orthodox Church’s Patriarch would become the official Pontifex Maximus of Russians Tsars or Presidents once again, making peace with God on behalf of the human rulers and blessing their every action. This has happened to some extent, though the ROC asked for mercy to be shown to the blasphemers. Nonetheless in threatening the Church the Tsars and their spiritual successors realize, the state is being threatened as well, a sort of bizarre reversal of the situation under Communism (see GDR and the Evangelische Kirche).
As for my personal opinion, it’s not important as they’ve been sentenced already. In a perfect world, everyone would have free speech perhaps, but realistically, I think Putin, the Tsars, and the ROC understand that this isn’t the case. Liberalism is inherently bent towards Atheism, the destruction of the Church, and the destruction of the family. In such a horrible but realistic framework, the events of friday might be understood as a defense of the Kingdom of Christ. What would be a real victory though, would be a true repentence and faith on the part of the women involved, the eternal judgment is much more important than the temporal one.