The organized and overblown reaction to all of this is much more about 
   ruining Russia's reputation as a democratic nation than anything else.

Because there is a political PR campaign going on aimed at shaping public opinion. Its political goals may be noble or may be not, but it feels a bit strange seeing it on HN.

One of Russian Erlang mailing lists recently banned political spam on off-topic grounds. Alas, no such luck with HN.