As the Russian government continuously posts high-definition and visually stunning videos of military operations in Syria online, young people in the country are increasingly showing support for the campaign.

A girl watches a news report about the Russian airstrike campaign in Syria. Photo: kathimerini.gr

According to the WSJ, since Russia launched its airstrike campaign on September 30, the Russian military has uploaded a series of short videos showing fighter jets dropping bombs and missiles on targets in Syria. Just hours after the first airstrike, the Russian Ministry of Defense posted a video on Facebook, garnering thousands of likes and shares.

The Russian side claims that they conducted highly precise airstrikes to avoid civilian casualties. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov asserted that reports of civilian casualties were "a hoax" aimed at discrediting Russia.

The images in the uploaded videos are very clear, highlighting Russia's high-tech combat capabilities. On Russia's largest social media site, VKontakte, users shared the video and repeatedly praised Russia for saving Syria and the world from the threat posed by the Islamic State (IS).

"In just a few weeks, there will be no trace of ISIS left," wrote Semyon Chernigov, who lives in Engels, a city about 800 km southeast of Moscow. "Glory will belong to Russia."

In many ways, this approach by the Kremlin could be seen as borrowing from a Pentagon website that features videos of airstrikes and cockpit footage to showcase the precision capabilities of U.S. military equipment.

This social media campaign is particularly well-suited to the "Putin Generation": those under 30, born after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and who grew up during a period when Putin was always the national leader, whether as president or prime minister.

Online comments show that young people's patriotism has been on the rise since Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014. T-shirts featuring images of Putin with the slogan "Crimea is ours" have become very popular.

Many websites and social media groups that have expressed support for Russia's actions in Ukraine are now also supporting Russia's campaign in Syria. Some groups say they support Syria and Assad.

A group called Russia Online Novorossiya Syria, with over 172,000 followers, regularly reposts news videos about Russian operations in Syria. State-run television channels such as Rossiya 24 and Channel One, a week before the airstrike campaign began, showed images depicting ISIS atrocities, as well as dramatic battlefield scenes from the Syrian government, sometimes including drone footage.

According to opinion polls, 88% of Russians access news through television. Only 17% of Russians seek news on blogs, forums, and social media. Furthermore, 63% of Russians say they trust television more than other sources.

However, the number of internet users in Russia is increasing, with around 65% of the population using the internet this year, compared to about 60% in 2014, according to estimates from a statistics website. According to a survey conducted earlier this year, 53% of Russians responded that they use the internet regularly, at least once a day.

A spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Defense held a press conference using a large screen to show video footage of airstrikes in Syria. Photo: Tass/Zuma Press

Although many images of the campaign in Syria have been posted online, analysts have observed that the wave of commentary on Syria itself has been relatively low, while commentary on Crimea and Ukraine has been much stronger.

Regarding the Syrian issue, Russians who are not overly interested in politics will opt for a "wait and see" attitude, writes Lyubov Borusyak from the University of Economics in Moscow and Alexei Levinson from the independent Levada polling center.

A poll conducted from October 2-5 by the Levada Center showed that 46% of people approved the parliament's decision to authorize the use of Russian military forces in Syria, while 33% opposed it.

However, this does not mean that there are no doubts whatsoever about the policies that Putin has put forth.

"I'm not against bombing ISIS; they are a very serious threat," wrote pro-Western blogger Anatoly Vorobey. "The sooner they are wiped out, the better for the world." But Vorobey added that he was particularly concerned about the level of exaggeration by the propaganda machine.

Although Putin insists that ISIS is the main enemy, US and Western officials say that Russia's campaign appears to be aimed at bolstering Assad's regime, as government forces have suffered serious setbacks in their fight against rebel groups.

However, on the Russian social media platform Vkontate, opinions that prioritize the country's interests and equate rebel groups with terrorists still predominate.

"If you are a patriot, you must value Russia's interests in the Middle East and stand up to defend Bashar al-Assad in the fight against evil forces," wrote a group on VKontakte called For Russia and Syria.

According to Vietnam+