Ukrainians Trust Zelenskyy and Budanov the Most, According to a Poll
Former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny enjoys the highest level of trust among Ukrainian politicians, officials, and public figures—64% of those surveyed trust him. Next in terms of trust are Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the head of the Presidential Office, Kyrylo Budanov—both at 53%.
A total of 1,000 respondents participated in the survey.
According to the survey results, the levels of trust and distrust in key politicians and public figures were distributed as follows:
- Valeriy Zaluzhny — 64% trust him, 25% do not trust him;
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy—53% trust him, 40% do not trust him;
- Kirill Budanov — 53% trust him, 31% do not trust him;
- Mykhailo Fedorov — 38% trust him, 25% do not trust him, and another 29% of respondents have not heard of him;
- Yevhen Khmara — 29% trust him, 16% do not trust him, while 43% of respondents do not know who he is;
- Andriy Sybiga — 24% trust him, 18% do not trust him, and 48% of respondents have not heard of him;
- Petro Poroshenko — 24% trust him, 70% do not trust him.
Thus, Valeriy Zaluzhny had the highest trust rating in the October Rating Group poll. Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Kyrylo Budanov have the same trust rating—53% each.
Pollsters also asked Ukrainians whom they would vote for in the first round of a hypothetical Ukrainian presidential election.
According to Rating Group, the highest levels of voter support are held by:
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy — 22.9%;
- Valeriy Zaluzhny — 20.2%;
- Petro Poroshenko — 7.6%;
- Mykhailo Fedorov — 7.6%;
- Kirill Budanov — 6.7%;
- Andriy Biletsky — 5.4%;
- Dmytro Razumkov — 5.1%;
- Serhiy Prytula — 2.4%;
- Yulia Tymoshenko — 1.9%;
- Yuriy Boyko — 1.4%.
At the same time, 4.5% of respondents said they would support another candidate, 5.2% would not participate in the vote, and 9.2% were undecided.
Rating Group specifically emphasizes that this refers to a hypothetical vote, not a forecast of the results of an actual presidential election.
This is evidenced by the results of a nationwide poll conducted by the Rating Group on October 3–5, 2026.
More than half of Ukrainians believe that Volodymyr Zelenskyy should limit himself to one term and not run in the next presidential election. These results are reported by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).
For a significant portion of Ukrainians working in Poland, the country is gradually ceasing to be merely a place of temporary employment. An increasing number of Ukrainian migrants view Poland as a country for long-term or permanent residence.
