Vladimir putin now has celebrity status in iraq and syria as leader ho

Images of the Russian President have started appearing on cars and billboards in Syria and Iraq in the past week. Cartoons of the Russia leader have also been widely shared on social media,

portraying him as muscular and fearless, as his popularity soars in the region. In one, a bare-chested Putin holds ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by the collar and says: "Where do you

think you're going? I'll flatten you like flour." Preachers have also hailed Russia's military intervention as a turning point in the battle to defeat the depraved ISIS

mentality. One, Maamoun Rahmeh, declared Putin a "giant and beloved leader" who has "destroyed the myth of the self-aggrandising America" at a mosque in Damascus last

week. Russia began its air campaign in Syria on September 30 after the US-led coalition struggled to dislodge ISIS militants for over a year. Russian ships in the Caspian Sea have also fired

cruise missiles over Iran and Iraq to strike Raqqa and Aleppo provinces. This has provided new hope among Assad's war-weary that their flailing battle against rebel factions and the

Islamic State group can still be won. Dr. Samir Haddad from the central city of Homs said: "The [Russian] intervention has raised the morale of the Syrian army and the Syrian people

alike. "President Putin has a distinguished personality and charisma, and it has become clear that world leaders have gradually started approving, openly or secretly, of this

intervention." His appeal has even extended to Lebanon, where some demonstrators wore T-shirts bearing Putin's face at a protest on Sunday calling for Lebanese presidential

elections.