Total shock in the Kremlin: "Grandpa has lost; We now have only two options"

The "blue wave" that swept across the United States, with Democrats taking control of both Congress and the Senate, has sent shockwaves through Russia as well, where the 80-year-old US president is affectionately referred to as "our Trump" and "Trumpushka."

As reported by Julia Davis, an American journalist, Daily Beast columnist and founder of the Russia Media Monitor watchdog group, which regularly translates and shares excerpts from Russian state television and pro-Kremlin media, analysing statements by Russian propagandists and officials, experts appearing on Russian state media had been convinced that Republicans, even if they lost their majority in the House of Representatives, would retain control of the Senate.

They mocked polls suggesting that Republicans were trailing Democrats by a significant margin and wished Trump success in the elections, hoping he would finally be able to force Ukraine to surrender and even pull the United States out of NATO.

The scale of American voters' rejection of the Republican Party surprised even Russian propagandists themselves.

During Wednesday's edition of the radio programme Full Contact, notorious pro-war Russian state television host Vladimir Solovyov appeared, according to the author, completely taken aback by the election results.

Solovyov blames Zelensky: "He got his revenge and is now celebrating"

"Trump's night was much worse than mine. Trump has conceded defeat, which can only be described as convincing and crushing... This is a major defeat," Solovyov commented.

"Trump had a terrible night," he added, concluding bitterly: "Trump has lost everything. He has lost absolutely everything."

What particularly stunned him were the results in Texas, where Democrat James Talarico convincingly defeated Trump's candidate, Ken Paxton, describing the outcome as something that had seemed virtually impossible.

"This is an unimaginably painful blow for Trump... The blue wave has swept him away," Solovyov said. "Trump should be praying that he doesn't get impeached," he added.

According to Davis, Solovyov also expressed fears that Trump might abandon the diesel deal with Russia, which has been poorly received in the United States.

"My expectations that Grandpa would pull himself together have proved futile. Grandpa has failed," he claimed.

With Congress set to constrain Trump's actions for the remainder of his term, Solovyov suggested that Trump might abandon his conciliatory approach towards Putin over the war in Ukraine, potentially leading to a dramatic escalation of the conflict.

"This war will go on for a long time... There are only two possible outcomes – either we win, or the entire world will be reduced to ashes."

In what Davis describes as an absurd attempt to shift the blame, Solovyov tried to pin responsibility for everything on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, accusing him of artificially driving up fuel prices in the United States through attacks on Russian oil refineries.

"Can you imagine how happy Zelensky is? He got his revenge on Trump – and won. Zelensky defeated Trump and struck back at him. That little green insect is now celebrating... He got his revenge for the humiliation in the Oval Office," Solovyov said.

He also openly expressed his disappointment over the Democrats' convincing victory.

"Trump has been swallowed up. He made a huge mistake with Iran, failing to take into account that it would drive up prices at the gas pumps. If he had managed to achieve success in military operations in Iran and Venezuela, while strengthening his friendship with us, which would have led to record-low fuel prices, he would have won... It's the economy, stupid!" Solovyov said, using the famous slogan coined in the early 1990s by Democratic Party strategist James Carville, which emphasised that economic issues hold the key to winning elections.