The majority of Russians (81 percent) support the partial withdrawal of Russian troops from Syria, a poll released Monday by the independent Levada Center pollster indicated.
The poll also revealed that 58 percent of Russians believe that Russian Air Force in Syria intended to eliminate the threat posed to Russia by Islamic radicals. More than a quarter (27 percent) believe that the Russian Air Force in Syria protected the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad to prevent a ‘color revolution’ provoked by the U.S., the poll said.
Only 12 percent of those surveyed were opposed to Russia’s involvement in the Syrian conflict and just 7 percent were against the withdrawal.
On the relationship between Russia and the West, 39 percent believed it had not changed, 30 percent were convinced that the relationship had been enhanced, and 20 percent of respondents thought relations had deteriorated owing to Russia’s participation in Syria.
More than half of respondents (69 percent) believe that Russian Air Force achieved its aim in Syria against 15 percent who don’t.
The poll was carried out by Levada Center from March 11 to 14 among 1,600 people in 137 cities and towns in Russia. The margin for error does not exceed 3.4 percentage points.
