Nope, phishing is a widely known method of hacking. I mean you don’t have to call it that, but don’t get upset if everyone else in the world does.
Also, we’re talking about the GRU and FSB here, and between them they’re responsible for cyber attacks on the White House (twice), the State Department, the Joint Chiefs, DOE, the Pentagon, several financial, legal, manufacturing and media entities, think tanks and universities, the DNC, NATO, the Uzbekistan and South Korea governments the German parliament, and a French TV station among many other lesser known government entities and NGOs in Europe and Asia, Brazil, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, China, Mexico, Georgia, Iran, Japan, and Malaysia.
While they do use spear fishing, they also use custom malware and zero-day exploits and are known to be on the level of nation state actors. They did, in fact, use more advanced tools and techniques on DNC computers once they were inside.
If you’re looking for “a modicum of skill, technical proficiency or knowledge on the part of the perpetrator,” there it is. These groups are some of the most skilled in the world.
If you need “at least some resistance/defense on the part of the victim,” well here ya go: Top Democrat's emails hacked by Russia after aide made typo, investigation finds | Democrats | The Guardian
The DNC had been defending against phishing attacks for a while but made a typo when reporting one email and accidentally called it “legitimate” instead of “illegitimate.” Someone who spends a few months under phishing attack from a nation state actor and has one little slip up is hardly stupid.