Russia has been trying to destabilize western democracies in general through this kind of indirect manipulations for a while because the liberal democracy model threatens its authoritarian regime. Other examples are Russia helping anti-EU far right parties, Wagner mercenaries committing atrocities in Africa and attempting to camouflage it as a French operation, paying random dudes to commit easy but high social impact crimes like tagging a Holocauste monument, networks of propaganda accounts on social media to create or amplify anything that will raise anger etc.