The air campaign against the Islamic State in Syria has made Russian President Vladimir Putin increasingly popular in Iraq.

Having just completed the final strokes of his portrait of President Vladimir Putin, artist Mohammed Karim Nihaya expressed hope that Russia will quickly launch operations to destroy IS in Iraq.

A few months ago, like many other Iraqis, Mr. Nihaya was extremely worried about developments in Syria, where the Islamic State (IS) was gaining ground against the government army. IS declared it would expand its occupied areas, establishing an "empire" in Iraq and Syria.

However, after Russia began its air campaign, confidence returned to the Iraqi people. "Russia achieved significant results in just over a week of air strikes while the US and its allies have been bombing for over a year without any results," AFP quoted Mr. Nihaya as saying.

Iraqi artist Mohammed Karim Nihaya completes a painting of Russian President Vladimir Putin in his studio in Baghdad on October 7. Photo: AFP.

Russia began airstrikes against IS in Syria on September 30. The US and its allies say Russia’s main goal is to destroy and weaken the rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, not terrorists. But Iraqis, especially Shiite Muslims, have full confidence in Moscow’s campaign. They see Russia, which has supported Syria and Iran over the years, as a more natural friend than the US, which has been at war in Iraq for eight years.

"We don't expect any international coalition. We just want Russia to act. When they come, we will kill sheep to welcome them," said Mohamed, an unemployed young man.

Idol Putin

Portraits of Putin with a stern and cold face are increasingly appearing on the streets of Iraq. Many people call him an honorary citizen of Iraq. They even spread a joke that the Russian president's name proves his Iraqi origin.

According to this joke, President Putin's father was a Shiite Muslim who worked as a grocery merchant. He brought figs to Iraq during his trading career. The fruit's Arabic pronunciation is "tin" and from then on he was called "Abu Tin".

After World War II, President Putin's father went to the Soviet Union and married a blonde Russian woman, who gave birth to a son and named him Abdelamir. However, this name was difficult to pronounce and over time his friends and relatives called him Vladimir.

On social networks, many Iraqis use the Russian president's photo as their profile picture.

"We will consider Putin as Iraqi because he loves us more than our leader," said Mohammed al-Bahadli, a student in the Shiite Muslim city of Najaf.

"(IS) attacked us because they considered us 'rafidha' (trash). Meanwhile, Mr. Putin, an Orthodox Christian, protected us. We thank him. Thanks to him, we have faith to stay in Iraq," Saad Abdallah, an Iraqi merchant, expressed his support for President Putin./.

According to Vov.vn