Russian political subversion and information operations, in Europe and the US, is very relevant to what's happening today.
In the early 2000s, Putin shifted toward a more confrontational stance toward NATO/the West, which has steadily increased since. The problem is that, with the exception of its nuclear arsenal, Russia lacked the military capabilities and global reach of its rivals. That is what Putin has been trying to improve for 20 years.
So what can Russia do against NATO and European states? Try to weaken them from within. There is nothing new about this, both sides did this all the time during the Cold War.
The Russians knew Trump well and correctly saw that his election would cause serious domestic problems in the US and weaken faith in the NATO alliance. (And there is no doubt they tried to influence the elections: www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/ICA-declass-16MAR21.pdf
www.justice.gov/archives/sco/file/1373816/download
In France, Russia has been funding and supporting people like Marine Le Pen, who would take France out of NATO and the EU.
In Germany, Russia funded a number of very influential politicians and the far-right AFD party, and RT had a huge presence there. Part of the aim was to support policies that would keep Germany dependent on Russian energy and sceptical of NATO.
In Hungary, Russia propped up Orban, until recently an obstacle to more assertive NATO/EU policies against Russia.
So do you really think Russia would do all this (and more), but not try to influence UK politics in any way? Of course not.
All of this is relevant because it helps explain why European states, and the US until 2021, did not really do much to counter growing Russian aggression. And the fact that they are now responding so robustly suggests that all of these political subversion achievements have been mostly erased. So we will probably see a much stronger anti-Russia platform in Europe going forward.