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Russians revere military more, want family members to serve in armed forces — poll

A record number of Russians would like their relatives to serve in the army, as indicated by 68% of respondents

© Sergei Fadeichev/TASS

MOSCOW, December 26. /TASS/. A majority of Russians (88%) approve of the Russian military’s performance and would like their close relatives to serve in the armed forces (68%), according to a poll conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center on Tuesday.

"The approval for the Russian army has swelled from 52% to 88% in five years. Russians point to the war in Syria, including the success of the Russian army, as one of the main world events of the year for the third year running (38% in 2017)," the report says.

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Poll reveals every second Russian sees no real external military threat

A record number of Russians would like their relatives to serve in the army, as indicated by 68% of respondents (47% in 2015 and 53% in 2014). The rating of the current state of the Russian army is also growing. Sixty-two percent of those surveyed answered that the armed forces were in "a very good/good state, up from 13% in 2011. The general situation in the army has also improved, according to the survey. Two-thirds of those polled (64%, as well as respondents that positively assessed servicemen’s daily conditions). Moreover, 84% also believe that the general combat capacity of the armed forces has improved.

A vast majority (93%) believe that the Russian military is capable of defending the country from any immediate military threat posed by other countries, while only 3% disagree. Russians pointed to border protection (43%), improving its infrastructure (32%) and better military professionalism (13%) among the major tasks the Russian army faces.

The poll was conducted in October-November 2017 and included the Sputnik national survey, the Express monthly national survey, the Confidence in the Russian Armed Forces national research poll and the Confidence in the Russian Armed Forces target group research poll.

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