Despite the huge death toll in Saturday’s hostage rescue mission, Russian President Vladimir Putin appears likely to end up with an even stronger mandate than before to wage war against the Chechen rebels who brought terrorism to the centre of the Russian capital, political analysts and pollsters said on Tuesday.In the days since Putin ordered a raid to free more than 800 hostages in a theatre seized by Chechen guerrillas, public opinion has rallied around the Kremlin, focussing on the terrible choice Putin had to make rather than on criticism of the lethal effects of the gas used to carry out the raid.‘‘Putin’s support will only grow even more in the short term,’’ said Lev Gudkov, director of political polling at the independent All-Russia Center for Research in Public Opinion. Putin’s approval rating has hovered around 70 per cent throughout his presidency, but Gudkov said they expect the number to rise to the 70s after a surge of patriotism, fuelled by generally positive coverage on Russia’s State-controlled TV. The first major post-crisis survey, released on Tuesday, suggests just how overwhelming public approval is. The survey by the All-Russia Center found 85 per cent of Russians backed Putin’s handling of the hostage crisis while 10 per cent were sharply critical. (LATWP)
