>>520883300 (OP)
The Balance Of Power dictates that without sufficiently powerful enemies (even a fraction of that which USA controls) then governments can turn their weaponry inward to suppress or force a cultural revolution upon their citizenry. While Russia/China/Iran exist the USA and other NATO aligned countries need to pretend to care about their people. I shudder to think of what they would do to all of the people espousing what they call "Russian Propaganda" today if there were no Russia.
So too does the Russian government need to answer to American or European complaints about the treatment of Russian citizenry. Only with perfect censorship could a nation disregard the agitation from its enemies during an internal dispute. Obvious the USA understands this because they're constantly shilling how bad it is in Russia or how terrible the conditions for their soldiers are.
The closer that #1 Alliance and #2 Alliance become in strength, the freer we all are as a result.