MOSCOW. Sept 5 (Interfax) - Nearly half of Russians (49%) think that Moscow should end the Syria campaign, and less than a third (30%) believe the opposite, the Levada Analytical Center told Interfax.
Twenty-two percent of the 1,600 respondents polled in 137 populated localities in 48 regions between August 18 and 22 were hesitant, the sociologists said.
A majority of Russians are interested in the Syria situation: 18% of them are closely monitoring events in Syria, and 56% know what has happened but do not attentively follow developments. Twenty-six percent of respondents are unaware of the state of Syrian affairs.
Some 32% of respondents fear that military interference in the Syrian conflict may put Russia into a new "Afghanistan," 40% describe this possibility as unlikely, 11% rule this out, and 10% are undecided, the sociologists said.
Russia launched the Syria campaign on September 30, 2015. Russian aircraft are supporting the Syrian army's ground operations against terrorist groups, including ISIL (banned in Russia).
Russian aircraft are based at the Hmeimim airbase in the Syrian province of Latakia under the bilateral agreement on the open-ended and lease-free deployment of a Russian air force concluded on August 26, 2015.