"Ooooo the irony! Russian authorities forcing western crews to de-ice? "
Well, maybe they are forcing everybody to de-ice as a mechanism to catch all the non-professional crews; everybody tarred with the same brush!?!
I thought the old fashioned "I'm the captain and I'm right, don't want to listen to you" attitude had gone from 21st century professional aviation; looks like it has survived in the dark reaches of our community somewhere!
If a de-icing crew in a cold and frost country recommends to me that I should de-ice I'm going to think long and hard before I override that recommendation. Even if I think I don't need it, I have to allow the possibility that I might be wrong.
If he's wrong and I'm right then I de-ice when it wasn't necessary; if I'm wrong and he's right then we just avoided an accident. I prefer to err on the safe side.
3 Point