evidence: Sputnik’s weekly segment Criminal Injustice on its Loud & Clear podcast similarly portrays itself as bringing attention to justice being denied to citizens, mixing legitimate grievances with distorted information. Russia’s goal for these programs is not to make the U.S. legal system more just; it is to tell an unrelenting one-sided story to get Americans to believe the system is as corrupt and broken as the legal system in Russia. Putin’s hope is that Americans will give up on democratic institutions, the way so much of his own population has come to accept the corruption in Russia. [...] High-level Russian government officials, including President Vladimir Putin, echo these messages in statements directed at domestic and international audiences. In doing so, they often adopt the language of international law to paint the Kremlin as the true champion of justice compared to a hypocritical West, while combating criticisms of their own corrupt regime at home. President Putin comments on a bogus lawsuit Russian opened against the United States in relation to the close of diplomatic compounds under the Trump administration. The comments were directed both to his own citizens, and people in parts of the world where the United States and Russia compete for influence. The aim is to lessen the appeal of democracy by showing its judicial system as biased and unfair.