2 days ago
Ukraine war poll shocker: Who do Ukrainians trust most?—And it's not Zelensky
A new survey reveals that a majority of Ukrainians favour seeking a compromise to end the war with Russia, while a smaller share want to continue fighting to restore lost territory. The poll also indicates high public trust in Ukraine's former military commander and mixed support for President Volodymyr Zelensky as a potential candidate in the next presidential election.
According to the survey conducted by the Janus Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts and the SOCIS Center for Social and Marketing Research, 55.7% of Ukrainians support resolving the conflict through compromise with international mediation.
Another 16.6% favour a temporary freeze in hostilities along the current line of contact. Combined, 72.3% of respondents would accept ending the war without pursuing further military advances.
Meanwhile, 12.8% of respondents said they support continuing the fight until Ukraine's 1991 borders are fully restored, and 8.6% back fighting to re-establish the borders as of February 23, 2022.
One in 20 respondents either declined to answer or were unsure.
If a presidential election were held today, 30.9% of decided voters would back incumbent President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi would finish second with 27.7% support. Ex-president Petro Poroshenko placed third, followed by former Verkhovna Rada Speaker Dmytro Razumkov and military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov.
Zaluzhnyi was also the top second-choice candidate among voters if their preferred option did not run.
The survey also measured public trust in key figures. Zaluzhnyi ranked highest, trusted by nearly 71% of respondents (37.7% fully trust and 33.2% rather trust him).
Zelensky's combined trust level stood at 49%, with 22.7% expressing full trust and 26.4% rather trusting him.
Budanov was trusted by a combined 55.3% of respondents.
By contrast, Poroshenko's trust ratings were markedly lower: just 16.6% said they trusted or rather trusted the former president.
The poll was conducted between June 6 and June 11, interviewing 2,000 Ukrainian adults in person. The survey excluded residents of areas under temporary Russian occupation and territories experiencing active combat.
The results have a statistical margin of error of +/- 2.6% and are representative by age, gender, settlement type, and region, with adjustments for displaced persons and citizens abroad.
