Putin’s Approval Rating Hits Record High After Syria Strikes

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s approval rating has reached nearly 90 percent largely thanks to his military moves in Syria, according to a new nationwide poll published Thursday.

State-run pollster VTsIOM said a record 89.9 percent of Russians approved of Putin in its latest weekly survey — up from 86.6 percent a week earlier and above the previous record of 89.1 in June 2015.

“Such high approval rating of the president of Russia had to do mostly with the events in Syria, [and] Russian airstrikes on terrorist positions,” VTsIOM said on its website.

Moscow claims the air operation in Syria is aimed at weakening ISIS. Western officials…

Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News