Experts say President Vladimir Putin isn't necessarily dictating every Russian influence campaign abroad. Some accused of meddling in the 2016 U.S. election appear to be ambitious individuals taking the initiative based on signals from the presidential entourage.

Gun activist Maria Butina is one example. Others seem to be much closer to Putin himself. Butina is jailed in Washington on charges that she tried to infiltrate U.S. political organizations as a covert Russian agent. It's unclear whether Putin was even aware of Butina's activities.

But the initiative — like Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya's efforts to meet with Donald Trump's campaign team, or online trolling credited to "Putin's chef" Yevgeny Prigozhin — dovetailed with the Kremlin's dual goals of destabilizing Western democracy and ending sanctions against Russia.

First Published:Sept 15, 2018 5:29 PM IST