MOSCOW — Vladimir Putin’s popularity has reached an all-time high amid Russia’s recent attacks on ISIS forces in Syria, according to a recent poll. Targeting younger generations through social media seems to be a key part of the Russian president’s strategy.
In addition to the widespread TV news coverage, the Russian government has deliberately circulated footage in forms that can be easily shared across social media channels in its bid to appeal to the young, according to a report published on Tuesday by The Wall Street Journal:
“Since it began its air war Sept. 30, Russia’s military has released a stream of flashy videos online showing warplanes dropping bombs and missiles on ground targets in Syria. Within hours of the first airstrikes, the Defense Ministry had posted footage on Facebook of bombing runs, garnering thousands of shares and likes.”
The approach seems to be working, with the footage also widely shared on VKontakte, a popular Russian social networking site:
“[U]sers shared the footage and praised Russia for rescuing Syria—and the world—from the threat of the Islamic State extremist group, also known as ISIS.
‘Just a couple of more weeks. No ISIS,’ said a commenter who identified himself as Semyon Chernigov from the city of Engels, about 500 miles southeast of Moscow. ‘Glory to Russia.’”
Although an Oct. 25 video of a U.S.-led hostage rescue in Iraq was widely shared, footage of American military operations in the region is being released more rarely and covered less in American mainstream media compared to past operations in the region, such as the first Gulf War, which received almost 24-hour-a-day live coverage.
On Oct. 22, VTsIOM, a government-run polling agency, reported that Putin’s approval rating had reached 89.9 percent. Not only did it beat the record-high 89.1 percent approval rating he scored in June, but it’s also a huge improvement from January 2012, when his approval rating stood at just 58.8 percent.
Reuters attributes Putin’s high marks to the success of Russia’s recent bombing campaign against ISIS targets in Syria:
“Russia’s air force says it has flown over 700 sorties against more than 690 targets in Syria since Sept. 30, a campaign to which state TV has given blanket coverage.”
As 88 percent of Russians still get their news from TV, the government has recently upgraded its live briefings with better visuals displayed on modern, flat-screen TVs, the Journal reported.
Alexey Eremenko, Moscow producer for NBC News, noted that some analysts question the accuracy of state-run polling agencies:
“Studies show that in authoritarian states, polls can overstate the popularity of incumbent leaders by between 5 and 20 percent because many respondents give the answers that they think are expected of them.”
Yet at least one independent poll provided further evidence of Russian support for the attack on ISIS. Earlier this month, the Levada Center, an independent Russian polling agency, reported that 72 percent of Russians support the airstrikes.
It’s not all good news for Putin, though: NBC reported that another VTsIOM poll showed about half of Russians expect their country’s “prolonged economic slump” to worsen.