Maybe because he has been seen as the "bad guy" by the west. so he needed a good excuse for getting rid of any non Christian symbols from the public which Russia has been doing.
Oh, and "freedom of speech" there is a reason freedom is put in that phrase. If you cant handle someone pointing out flaws in your views and you deem that as insulting then life is going to be hard for you.
Freedom of speech my ass! Just try to express some "unathorized" views or ask unwelcomed questions about LGBT, jews, holocaust, black ppl, mass imigration, where the taxpayers money went and you will see pretty soon how tolerant these "freedom of speech" champions really are :/.