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 Russian state TV, which hews closely to the Kremlin's world view,
leaves little doubt about who Moscow supports in November's U.S.
presidential election: "The Donald."
Vladimir Putin's spokesman took brief exception this month to a
Trump attack video which showed Putin laughing at the prospect of
Clinton defending America. But officials and analysts say the
Kremlin still sees Trump as the best candidate by a mile.
Putin has hailed Trump as "very talented". The head of the Russian
parliament's foreign affairs committee said he'd be a worthy winner
of the 2015 "man of the year" title in the United States.
And Dmitry Kiselyov, presenter of Russia's main weekly TV news show
"Vesti Nedeli," claimed this month that the Republican party elite
had struck a secret deal with the Democrats to derail Trump, in part
because of his sympathy for Russia.
"Trump doesn't suit the Republican party," Kiselyov told viewers.
"They usually divide up the state budget (among themselves) by
frightening people about Russia. But Trump is ready to find a common
language with Putin. That's why they don't need Trump and even
regard him as dangerous."
 Kiselyov has been one of the chief proponents of state television's
strongly anti-American tone, once saying Moscow could turn the
United States into radioactive ash.
Some experts say Trump appeals to Moscow because Putin believes a
Trump presidency would be isolationist and leave Russia with a free
hand.
"The Kremlin can't believe its luck," said Konstantin von Eggert, an
independent Moscow-based political analyst who believes the Obama
administration has not been forceful in countering Russia.
"President Obama and (Secretary of State) John Kerry were a dream
team for them, but now they have an even better option; someone who
thinks that America should have nothing to do with the rest of the
world."
RT, the Kremlin's English-language TV channel formerly known as
Russia Today, says it does not back any U.S. candidates. But it has
described Trump as "idiosyncratic and raw," and suggested he
represents the popular will of U.S. voters, which a sinister U.S.
establishment is trying to subvert.
"Can America's elections be truly called democratic if the political
establishment aligns itself against the popular will?" lamented
Peter Lavelle, the American host of RT's flagship talk "CrossTalk"
show. "As things stand now millions of voters could be
disenfranchised."
'THANK GOD FOR TRUMP'
Trump has received advice from Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, a
former U.S. military intelligence chief who advocates better ties
with Russia, and who shared a dinner table in Moscow with Putin in
December to celebrate RT's 10th anniversary.
Trump has won friends in Moscow with statements praising Putin as a
strong leader that he could probably get along with. His support for
Russian air strikes in Syria was welcomed.
 In January, after a British judge ruled that Putin had "probably"
authorized the murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in
London, Trump said he saw "no evidence" the Russian president was
guilty.
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"First of all, he says he didn't do it. Many people say it wasn't
him. So who knows who did it?" Trump said.
This week, Trump said the United States should reduce funding for
NATO. A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said his comments showed
the alliance was in crisis.
"For the last two years all we heard from Western newspapers and TV
was very critical of Russia," Victoria Zhuravleva, a Moscow-based
expert on U.S.-Russia relations, told Reuters.
"So when you hear something that is not so critical and even more
friendly towards your country it's like: 'Thank God, There's one
person we can talk to: Donald Trump'"
Trump and Putin were similar, she said: "They are both open-minded,
pragmatic, and say what they think."
'THE OLD BRIGAND'
The mutual appreciation between Trump and Putin has invited
comparisons to the Russian leader's friendship with another
billionaire-turned-politician, Italy's Silvio Berlusconi, who
outraged Ukrainians and irked EU leaders last year by visiting
Russian-annexed Crimea with Putin. They toured a Crimean winery and
drank a priceless 240-year-old bottle from its cellar.
By contrast, Hillary Clinton, who is well known to the Kremlin
because of her 2009-2013 stint as U.S. Secretary of State, is
clearly not to Moscow's taste.
"We really don't want Hillary," said one Russian official, who spoke
anonymously because of the subject's sensitivity. "She's no friend
of Russia's."
State media coverage has focused on what it has cast as her wacky
promise to declassify UFO files and on the pressure she has faced
for using her personal email account for government business and
over her response to the fatal 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic
compound in Benghazi, Libya.
Pro-Kremlin bloggers, corralled by a Putin supporter who used to
represent the ruling party in parliament, are enthused by the
prospect of agitating on behalf of Trump.
"Trump is the first member of the American elite in 20 years who
compliments Russia. Trump will smash America as we know it, we've
got nothing to lose," Konstantin Rykov told his followers on social
media.
"Do we want the grandmother Hillary? No. Maybe it's time to help the
old brigand."
(Editing by Peter Graff)
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