Poll: Russians oppose sending troops to Syria Read more on

The majority of Russians are opposed to sending troops to Syria, according to the results of a survey carried out by the Levada Center, an independent Russian polling and sociological research organization.

The overwhelming majority of Russians, or 69%, believe that Russia should not provide direct military support to Syria to support its leadership, while only 14% of respondents spoke in favor of sending troops.

At the same time, the Russians believe that Russia should help Syria, using political and diplomatic support (67%), as well as providing humanitarian aid (55%).

Nearly two-fifths, or 43% of respondents believe that the Russian leadership should advise and equip the Syrian colleagues, while almost the same number of respondents was against such assistance from Russia (41%). In addition, 57% of Russians do not want to accept Syrian refugees and to help them, while every fifth supported this idea (21%).

The poll was conducted on September 18-21. A total of 1,600 people aged from 18 were questioned in 46 regions of Russia. The poll’s margin of error is no more than 3.4%/4.1.