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Sixty-one per cent said the country is moving in the right direction, up from 55% in the previous two months, according to the respected pollster Levada Centre.
The national survey included the opinions of 1 600 Russian adults with a statistical margin of error that did not exceed 3.4%, the pollster said.
Late last month Russia began a bombing campaign in Syria to support that country’s embattled ruling regime, one of Russia’s closest allies in the Middle East.
The campaign, which Moscow says is directed against terrorist organisations such as Islamic State (ISIS), followed so-far unsuccessful attempts by Russia’s biggest rival, the United States, to turf out Islamic State.
About three-fourths of Russians, 72%, support the Russian campaign, Levada Centre revealed a couple of weeks ago.
Putin’s approval rating reached an all-time high of 89% in June, but that number has edged down slightly in the months since as Russians struggle with a tough economy.
The downward trend ended last month as Russia escalated its involvement in Syria.
Another external conflict – in Ukraine – also significantly boosted Putin’s approval rating, which had been hovering around 65% in the previous three years.
Russia occupied and annexed Ukraine’s Crimea last year and has subsequently supported a pro-Russian separatist rebellion in that country’s two eastern-most regions.
A poll by Levada Centre in June revealed that six out of 10 Russians believe that the West’s sanctions against Russia related to the Ukraine crisis were an attempt to humiliate and weaken Russia.
A mere 5 per cent said the sanctions were actually meant to stop the war in Ukraine.
