In 2017 the Friedrich Naumann Foundation conducted an opinion poll about freedom perception in Russia. Practical questions from everyday life are leaded by sociological vignettes in order to be as close as possible to real situations.
Most perceive the word "freedom" as freedom of choice and decision. Furthermore Freedom of speech should be controlled only in special circumstances for 40% of the interviewers.
On the other hand only 50% believed that democracy is important for the majority of russians; asked personally, 64% considered democracy to be important.
When asked about rule of law the answers are pretty astonishing: 56% consider that the majority of the Russians lives by informal rules and personal agreement. But when asked personally, 77% lived rather by the law.