Russians danced in the street when Donald Trump was sworn in as 45th President of America as revellers claimed: “It’s a holiday”.
Officials and politicians celebrated the inauguration of President Trump while a hundred Trump sympathisers, nationalist activists and spin doctors gathered at a hipster party location several hundred metres away from the Kremlin to celebrate.
An hour before Mr Trump took to the stage in Washington, the sound of opening champagne bottles echoed in the vaulted hall of the former telegraph building.
The party was co-sponsored by the conservative Tsargrad TV channel, which is led by ultra-right ideologist Alexander Dugin.
"Yes, it's a holiday," said Dmitry Rode, a communications executive, with a glass of champagne in his hand.
"We all hope that relations between our countries and, more importantly, between our peoples will help to develop our economy. We're neighbours, we're just 50 kilometres away from each other."
Academics claimed it was the first time in history that an inauguration party had been held in the country anywhere other than at the US Embassy.
Political analyst Stanislav Byshok said: “It's weird, but it's great, and for the first time ever Russians are applauding the victory of a US presidential candidate, it's a sign of the times.
"For the past years we have had a very tense relationship so when a person who is perceived in Russia as being neutral to Russia and who is realistic about foreign policy was elected, it was greeted with joy."
Many nightclubs and bars across the country hosted pro-Trump parties.
At one Moscow nightclub, several dozen people began toasting Mr Trump late on Thursday.
Willi Tokarev, 82, a singer who emigrated to the US in the mid-1970s and later became a music legend in Russia, topped the entertainment bill with his song Trumplissimo America!
"Trump, Trump, symbol of America. Trump, Trump, he's really president," the mustachioed Tokarev sang on a tiny stage with Russian and American flags hanging behind him.
Across from the US embassy compound in central Moscow, the Russian army store put up a poster with Mr Trump's picture, offering inauguration day discounts of 10 per cent for Americans.
While Mr Trump's policy towards Russia is as yet unclear, prime minister Dmitry Medvedev said that "we are hoping that reason will prevail".
Donald Trump Inauguration Day - In pictures
"We are ready to do our share of the work in order to improve the relationship," Mr Medvedev said on Facebook.
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