You can always find a way to eliminate an undesirable candidate. E.g. declare that they're "paid by Putin". That's all you need to eliminate the undesirable politician, there are usually exactly zero proofs. Declaring that someone is "pro Putin" is enough.
Actually, the range of methods is slightly wider. E.g. there was a French politician investigating the сase of corruption of Ursula von der Leyen. That politician died from "heart attack" just a few days before the hearing. Ah, that's a "conspiracy theory" and "conspiracy theories" are explicitly forbidden now in several EU countries. Also, very convenient.
Same for comments in the Internet. E.g. if you writing something western people doesn't like on Reddit/Facebook/whatever, the only reaction you'll get will be "you're a Kremlin troll"
No need to think and analyze yourself. There's only one truth in the world and it comes from Bloomberg/CNN/BBC.
Bah, that’s the real freedom, comrade. Freedom to kill opposition. How can you call yourself “free” if you can’t freely put polonium in your opponents chai?