More than half of Ukrainians (57%) trust President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
This is evidenced by the results of a survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).
KIIS studied the dynamics of trust in the president from 2019 to 2025. Thus, as of the first half of February 2025, 57% of Ukrainians trust Zelenskyy, while 37% do not. The balance of trust-distrust is +20%.
Moreover, the trust indicators have improved slightly compared to the last survey in December 2024, when Zelenskyy was trusted by 52%, distrusted by 39%, and the trust-distrust balance was +13%.
In all regions of Ukraine, the situation is quite similar and the balance of trust-distrust is positive.
KIIS Director Anton Hrushetskyy noted that President Zelenskyy retains a fairly high level of trust in society, and even more so, he retains legitimacy. According to him, for a democratic society, having the current level of trust is a very good result.
"If some international partners and allies are worried about the legitimacy of the President in the context of possible peace negotiations and consider it appropriate to insist on elections, then from the point of view of Ukrainian citizens themselves, there are no problems with this, the current President and the authorities are quite legitimate to conduct complex negotiations, and elections should be held after the war ends and at least Ukraine receives reliable security guarantees," the sociologist added.
KIIS conducted the survey among 1,000 respondents on 4-9 February 2025. The sample did not include residents of the territories temporarily not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities (however, some respondents are IDPs who have moved from the occupied territories). Also, the survey was not conducted with citizens who moved abroad after 24 February 2022.
- In December last year, Zelenskyy's trust rating stood at 52%, the lowest level since the full-scale war. Although the trust indicators went down over the past year, the balance of trust and distrust remained positive at +13%. In addition, according to the poll, most Ukrainians believe that Zelenskyy should remain president until martial law is lifted.
- Recently, US President Donald Trump said that Zelenskyy's approval rating was allegedly 4% and effectively made Ukraine's participation in peace talks dependent on the holding of elections.