But a survey conducted last week by ARPI, a leading polling agency, found that 52 percent of Russians are now braced for a drawn-out guerrilla war as opposed to just 12 percent who believe Kremlin claims that Chechen rebels are on the verge of final defeat. Russia is a big country, and we haven't seen much impact on public opinion yet. However, Valery Psygankov, deputy editor of Pskovskaya Pravda, a paper run by the Pskov regional government, argues the effect of last month's tragic toll of local boys was to bolster backing for the war. He points to Putin's 62 percent support in Pskov as evidence of this. But he adds that local people are very angry about the blunders and negligence that led to the 84 Pskov paratroopers being surrounded and wiped out by Chechen fighters last month.
People here support the war, but they are furious at the generals.
He cites lack of proper battlefield intelligence, inadequate communications, poor coordination between Army and police command structures in the field, and absence of quick-response helicopter support as the main problems. But, he adds, it would be much better if professional soldiers were conducting operations in rugged Chechnya rather than OMON urban crime-fighters. That leads to these terrible mass funerals, which are sapping public morale. And there's another downside, he says. Our best crime-fighting police are being taken from their home field of activities to serve and die in Chechnya.