Poll: Majority Of Russians Support Moscow's Actions In Syria
The majority of Russians support their government's actions in Syria, a poll by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) has found, TASS reports.
The poll found that 62 percent of Russians supported their government's chosen course of action in Syria. More men than women (73 percent of men compared to 54 percent of women) were in favor.
Some 27 percent of those polled did not completely support the actions of their government in Syria, with 16 percent of those saying Russia should "slow down" and 11 per cent saying that Russia should not be involved in the Syrian conflict.
Russia's Life News, a pro-Kremlin news site with ties to the country's security services, reports that it has been made aware of the identity of the IS militant who beheaded a Russian "spy" in Raqqa in a video shared earlier this week.
Life News says that the man is 28-year-old Anatoly Zemlyanka, who is on the FSB's wanted list.
Zemlyanka is from Noyabrsk, the largest city in Russia's Nenets Autonomous Okrug in West Siberia.
The IS militant who appeared in the beheading video was not wearing a mask to cover his identity, suggesting that he is aware he is on a wanted list.
Putin's Spokesman 'Unaware' Of Contact Between Russia, U.K. Over Syria Ops
Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov says that he is not aware of any contacts between Russia and the United Kingdom since Britain began air strikes against IS in Syria earlier this week, the BBC tweets.
RIA Novosti has more on Peskov's comments to reporters this morning.
"No, at the political level, there have not yet been any contacts," Peskov said, adding that he was also not aware of any contacts between the two countries' militaries regarding operations in Syria.
"I am unaware of any contacts, but at the same time you should ask our military. But I have not heard anything about any contacts between the Russian and British militaries," Putin's spokesman said.
Putin's spokesman Peskov declined to comment on a question from the BBC this morning regarding whether Russia is building a second base in Syria.
Activists have reported that Russia is expanding runways at an existing base in Syria's Homs province but this remains unconfirmed.
Russia has completed genetic examinations of the remains of those killed in a Russian passenger jet downed over Egypt's Sinai peninsula, TASS reports.
The IS group claimed responsibility for downing the plane on October 31. All 217 passengers and seven crew members died.
Genetic verification to identify the remains of the victims of the plane downing was carried out at the Center for Forensic Medicine in Moscow.
French President Francois Hollande is to visit a French aircraft carrier off Syria, AFP has just tweeted, citing the President's office.
France's only aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, was despatched to target the IS group in Syria last month following the November 13 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people.
Here is the official statement from the French President's office regarding President Hollande's visit to the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier off Syria:
Turkey will not cancel visa-free travel for Russian citizens despite the chilling of relations between the two countries in the wake of last week's downing of a Russian Su-24 jet near the Syrian border, the Turkish Embassy in Moscow has said.
"Turkey will not introduce visa requirements for Russian citizens because it considers the Russian people to be friendly," pro-Kremlin news website RIA Novosti reports.
Russia has banned the sale of package tours to Turkey and canceled charter flights to the country in the wake of the Su-24 incident.
Sky News reports that it is La Bonne Bierre cafe, where five people were killed during the November 13 Paris attacks, has reopened.
AFP has more on French President Hollande's planned trip to visit the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle today on the eastern Mediterranean off Syria.
Hollande is expected to meet fighter pilots and the crews that service the warplanes on the aircraft carrier, which is being used to conduct air strikes on IS targets. It was despatched to the eastern Mediterranean in the wake of the November 13 Paris attacks.