> It seems like they are saying "posts that were posted recently have less views than posts posted before the Yandex strike" which is explained just by time.

It doesn't seem you even bothered to read the article. It shows quite clearly that following the strike post from populist far-right figures had literally a residual level of engagement, which includes both views, comments, reposts, likes, etc.

The screenshots clearly show posts preceding the strike showing literally an order of magnitude more comments, reposts, etc.

I'm not personally tracking there metrics, but I'd expect engagement to normalize a few days after the strike as Russia's propaganda arm is expected to scramble to get it's operation back online. Therefore, "just by time" can accommodate for Russia getting their botfarms back online. But the snapshot covered by this article alone are clear and obvious.