Who told you that nonsense? Russian press is more independent than for example the American one. I'm talking about the real independence. Yes, we have "Putin-TV" - the television controlled by the government which praises Putin 24/7, but if you don't like it, you can switch to the alternative ones like
РБК and
Дождь - those are independent TV channels. Also don't forget that we also have EuroNews (in Russian), CNN, Deutsche Welle, France 24, BBC, Bloomberg etc. Those are TV channels. As about the printed press, so there is a much wider choice of alternatives to pro-Putin news.
So when some person says there is no freedom of press in Russia, he is a clueless kid or just a stupid moron. The kid will grow up someday while the stupid moron has no chances to get smarter. Hope you are the first one.
P.S. I'm watching
Дождь on TV while typing this post.