MOSCOW — At least once an hour, sometimes more frequently, images of battalions of riot police officers in helmets clashing with demonstrators fill the screen of Rossiya 24, one of Russia’s major government-controlled television channels, and newscasters speaking in grave tones inveigh against the injustice and violence by the authorities.

The images are not from Kiev, Ukraine, or from here in Moscow, where such scenes have been more than familiar in recent years. They are from Ferguson, Mo., where the shooting death of Michael Brown and the crackdown by the authorities against protesters have provided the latest opportunity for Russia to portray its detractors in America as hypocrites.

“Cases of racism are still not rare in the nation of exemplary democracy,” an anchor on Rossiya 24 said on Tuesday, as Ferguson again grabbed a prominent place in the evening news cycle.

In Russia’s more tabloid-style news outlets, close coverage of the events in Missouri, including such details as the rap star Nelly’s appearing in support of the demonstrators, has overshadowed the other big story in recent days: that of a high school music teacher under pressure to resign after she inadvertently posted a naked selfie on VKontakte, the Russian social media site.