They're no different than what lobbyists do. Just that the beneficiary is another country instead of a corporation. The oval office (and Congress) are for sale. They have been this whole time. Hillary Clinton amassed $1.4 bn in campaign funds. That kind of money doesn't come from everyday working class people.
As an American citizen, I see nothing worse about Russia buying a candidate than any corporate lobby. Either way my vote doesn't matter, my voice doesn't count, and the only thing politicians will do in our name is throw us a bone now and then with "win-win" legislation like banning robocalls. Anything else immediately becomes a "partisan issue" subject to whatever lobby paid them the most to do (and will cost them reelection if they vote otherwise). Meanwhile my health insurance is still going up 10% per year, a college degree means a lifetime of indentured servitude, and corporations are getting away with whatever they want. Please, any country: hack us. I don't fucking care.