With the decision by Russia to initiate airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria, the approval ratings for Russian President Vladimir Putin are at an all-time high. Reports indicate that nearly 90% of Russian citizens approve of their country’s leader.
Putin currently has an all-time high approval rating of 89.9%. His previous high of 89.1% came earlier this year in June. His lowest approval rating was 58.8% in January of 2012.
The Russian state polling company said in a statement, “Such a high level of approval for the work of the Russian president is linked, in the first instance, to events in Syria, to Russian airstrikes on terrorist positions there.”
According to reports released by the Russian air force, the country has conducted more than 700 airstrikes against more than 690 individual targets in Syria. The country has been showing many of these attacks on state television.
Before Russia got involved in Syria, Russians largely said that they were concerned about becoming entangled in conflict in the Middle East. However, recent polls have shown that about 72% of Russians have a positive opinion about the airstrikes conducted by their country.
Putin has not seen his approval ratings fall below 80% for more than a year and a half. His third term as President of Russia lasts until 2018. Putin has not stated whether or not he intends to run for president again. If he gets elected for a fourth term, he would remain in power until at least 2024.
The approval ratings for Vladimir Putin have grown since spring of last year. Around that time, Russia was working to forcefully acquire territory from Ukraine, most notably the Crimea peninsula of Ukraine.
If Putin can maintain these reported approval ratings, he will certainly have an easy time maintaining power should he decide to run again in 2018.
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