The evidence is that the Russian disinformation machine is still going strong...

Russian troll farms are still spreading misinformation to support MAGA, AfD, and far right political organizations world wide. The conflict between Russia and the 'civilized' world is not about economic philosophy- it is a struggle between democracy and fascism, authoritarianism.

Functioning democracies- especially those on Russia's doorstep- are the greatest threat to power that Putin has. Remember the unsuccessful movement in Russia when the people pressed for democracy? The revolution failed to ignite- the Russian people are deeply unsatisfied with the state of their country, but after seeing the most promising promoters of real democracy being jailed and/or killed the Russian people have little hope for change. By undermining and eroding successful democracies, Putin can pre-emptively squash the hopes of his own people. By pointing to failing democracies he can undermine the arguments for democracy in his own country.

So he spends billions on the bot farms, on professional trolls selling views designed to sow chaos and discord... undermining democracies, bolstering hate and ignorance... and in that effort he has found common cause with the American Republican party.

I highly recommend books written by Timothy Snyder if you are interested in understanding Putin's motives (and the motives of authoritarian fascists in general... "The Road to Unfreedom", "On Tyranny", and others).