Another Reason Putin Supports Syria: The Average Russian Doesn't Really Care
But there is another factor that enables Putin to act freely with regards to Syria — the average Russian simply doesn't care about Syria.
A new poll from the independent Levada Polling Center found that only 8% of Russians said they had been closely following Syria, while 52% said they knew a little and 39% said they knew nothing at all.
That contrasts with one recent poll in the U.S., where 36% of respondents said they knew a fair amount or a great deal about Syria. The poll, conducted by Ipsos for Reuters, said that 36% felt they had heard a little about the conflict, and 28% said they had not heard anything at all.
51% of Russians polled by Levada said they did not favor Assad or the rebels, while 19% said they favored Assad and 7 percent said they favored the rebels.
Tellingly, 34% of respondents said that Russia should not take sides in the confrontation, but should try and use it to Russia's benefit. 21% said Russia should support Syria, while 11% said they should support the rebels. 34% said it was too hard to tell.
Within Russia, it does really seem like Syria isn't much of an issue: While Putin is facing some domestic resistance at the moment, opposition leaders such as Alexey Navalny have mostly focused their anger on domestic policy rather than foreign policy.