MOSCOW, Russia - At 7 a.m. Wednesday in Moscow, a crowd of faces weary from staying up all night erupted in yells of joy. U.S. Senator Barack Obama would be called President-elect Obama from that point on, and at the American-themed Starlite diner that shares a square with a giant Lenin statue, Russians and expats celebrated together.

Many Russians have high hopes for U.S. President-elect Barack Obama.

"It's a great opportunity for the world. It's a great opportunity for Russia to have such a president," said a woman named Katya. "It's an emotional event. I think the whole world will come together and I think it's unbelievably great for Russian people."

Katya shares many Russian's views. Independent polls show far more Russians hoped Obama would win. Russians at Starlite and Russians on the street say they believe Obama won't be as "aggressive" as George W. Bush has been as U.S. president, and McCain might have been.

Still, as another excited Muscovite told me early morning, "Maybe McCain would be easier for Russians to understand as he is also a kind of hardliner."

Though many want the change Obama promises, years of authoritarian rule have become familiar to those who live here. And just hours after many got the news they wished for, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev gave them the harsh rhetoric they could have expected.

Seemingly timed to coincide with the U.S. election results, in his first "State of the Nation Address," instead of congratulating Obama, President Medvedev blamed America for starting the global financial crisis, the war in Georgia, and for pressuring Moscow over a missile defense system outside its borders.

Though Medvedev later sent a "congratulatory" telegram to the president-elect, mixed messages from the Kremlin continue providing a sense that though many here yearn for a fresh start, perhaps those in charge just don't know how, or simply don't agree.