Think about it this way.
What if Putin sought to get a candidate elected in country X and that candidate was in fact elected?
What if the then president defended Putin's actions at a summit in Helsinki?
What if that president went on to suggest the US should withdraw from NATO, a primary goal of Putin's, but was kept from doing so by his advisors?
What if that prez went on to sow division in country X? What if he tried to destabilize it by questioning the legitimacy of elections, by exacerbating the wealth gap, by making false claims about the credibility of the judicial system, by appointing partisan radicals to the Supreme Court, by using those radicals to make him immune from crimes he had committed.
What if said prez has stated he would end support to a country Putin invaded and has perpetrated war crimes on.
What if said prez was once again the nominee of his party?
That's what Putin succeeding looks like.