Globalization in Action!
When the media talks about Russian this or that they always use the term "Kremlin" as if everything in Russia is driven by the state. A more realistic view would be that its a source of well educated, cheap labor , much of it underemployed and not to fussy about how it makes a living. In other words, if one were to open a troll factory (or malware operation) this would be a good place to do it. The government wouldn't be involved, in fact I'd expect that if it was it would be hidden well enough that it would be easily denialbe.
This is no different from other aspects of globalization. We're all familiar with the tangle of interrelated companies and software that makes up the modern Web and the tale of Cambridge Analytica and its parent SCL, nominally English companies, and their involvement as contractors to various Republican groups in the 2016 election cycle (not to mention the direct role of Robert Mercer)(who was also instrumental in the Brexit campaign).
There's lots to look at and wonder about but if you value your democracy then you'll pay less attention to the chatter ("twitter?") and stay well informed.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
