I think as well this misses the point that an election target can be life or death. If the US elects a Putin-unfriendly government in the near future, one would

I think as well this misses the point that an election target can be life or death. If the US elects a Putin-unfriendly government in the near future, one would expect some serious fire-and-brimstones reprisals from the Americans (and European allies) for previous election interference. I’d be amazed if those don’t focus on bringing about regime change in Russia, and it seems unlikely that can happen with the current leadership getting away unscathed. Whether or not this is a good thing is left as an exercise for the reader.