I mean, I should have known you'd regurgitate the propaganda, but it's always a disappointment anyway. Such a stupid response, too. That's basically a non-sequitur. For one, there being two evils does not necessitate siding with the lesser. You can acknowledge there are no good guys, and instead pick the position most likely to lead to the least amount of suffering over all. That is and will always be peace, but you blood thirsty natoids just can't imagine that. Your response is also dumb as hell given that modern Russia is a capitalist state, not the USSR lmao. Bringing up Gulags is a bit like bringing up slave plantations in the USA.... except the USSR is actually completely dissolved so its even less relevant. For the record, the US still legally permits slavery in the instance of criminal conviction. Say, sure would be wild if the US disproportionately policed and convicted black and brown people, wouldn't it? That'd seem like a loophole legitimizing slavery over time! But that's just whatabouttism so feel free to ignore it like a good little natoid. You're grossly ignorant regarding tiananmen square as well, but I won't bother citing anything since you'll just dismiss it out of hand.

Instead, I'll ask what are your thoughts on the repression of Black Lives Matter, Occupy Wall Street, Ireland Independence, French Yellow Vests/Public Benefits/Police Racism, and so on and so forth in "Free" and "Democratic" countries? What about the United States having the highest incarceration rate in the world, largely filled with black and brown people subjected to forced labor while in prison? What would happen if your "protest" did more than carry signs in publicly designated and permitted areas? Wouldn't you be beaten, arrested, and convicted under the fullest extent of the law? So sorry that you're so cucked you can't imagine doing more than asking your leaders nicely for change and politely going home when they say no, but real protest is certainly illegal in "Free" Western countries, and if you ever actually engaged in it you'd see exactly how brutal those governments can be.

Principled communists aren't unapologetic supporters of every single thing socialist countries do/have done, but we take issue with the nakedly hypocritical framing from Western powers. The atomic unit of propaganda is emphasis. You ignorantly reduce entire foreign countries to a single word/event while myopically ignoring the conditions before and after, but hem and haw and whine about nuance and procedure and the necessity of the barbarity around us every day... When you're not ignoring it outright that is. That's what makes you a useful idiot to our own system of oppression. It's an embarrassment.

Yeah there's some risk associated with protesting in the US but at least I don't have to worry about the going to the gulag

Good thing protestors in the US and UK don't get arrested on flimsy charges or crippled or murdered by cops

Snowden, Assange, manning, dozens of maimed protestors and the largest prison system in the world would like a word with you after seeing what you just posted here.