That's not the point
@Maticmaker made. The statement was:
"Of course,
but I was saying how
he (Putin) does present it to the Russian people. Lets be honest if the Russian people wanted freedom and democracy they would have chosen it, like Ukraine has."
which somehow suggests that the people of a country have the Governments and establishment that they desire and deserve.
That's not only utterly naïve, as it misses the point you have quite rightly just made and the extent to which populations can be manipulated and controlled, but also
bizarrely suggests that something innate in the make up of the Russian people, whatever that is defined as, somehow intrinsically wish to live under aggressive state control and expansionism.