The Russians are somewhat unique in that their Soviet predecessors studied and were very effective at these types of tactics in the old world.

The West did this type of thing, but sucked at it — western powers usually backed traditional or incumbent people in power, and usually for a more specific purpose.

What these guys do now is just push narratives of fringe or divisive people, with or without cooperation or knowledge of the principals. The goal is chaos. Normal, more effective political figures Having oddballs like Trump, Jill Stein, Sanders, etc in positions of fleeting or lasting prominence happens when messages get magnified and legitimized.