Electoral preferences: ex-defence minister Fedorov almost level with ex-commander-in-chief Zaluzhnyi – poll

An opinion poll has shown that in the first round of a hypothetical presidential election, 22.3% of Ukrainians would vote for incumbent President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 14.9% for former commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi and 13.4% for Mykhailo Fedorov, whose dismissal as defence minister sparked a wave of protests.

Source: a survey conducted by the Rating sociological group on current socio-political issues on 20-21 July

Details: The pollsters noted that the survey was completed before it was reported that Oleksandr Syrskyi was stepping down as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

They also highlighted that trust in Mykhailo Fedorov has risen from 35% to 65% over the past week, whereas trust in Oleksandr Syrskyi has fallen from 39% to 23%.

Respondents were asked who they would vote for in the first round of a hypothetical Ukrainian presidential election.

The top three candidates were Volodymyr Zelenskyy (22.3%), Valerii Zaluzhnyi (14.9%) and Mykhailo Fedorov (13.4%).

They were followed by Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the President's Office (7.2%), boxer Oleksandr Usyk (5.9%), fifth president Petro Poroshenko (4.6%), Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov (4.3%), former parliament speaker Dmytro Razumkov (3.7%), and 3rd Army Corps Commander Andrii Biletskyi (2.3%).

Two-time former prime minister Yuliia Tymoshenko received 1.7%, volunteer and former TV presenter Serhii Prytula 0.8%, and Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko 0.3%.

Meanwhile, 4% of respondents said they would vote for a different candidate, 2.6% would not vote at all, and the remaining 11.9% said they were not sure.

Respondents were also asked whether they trusted certain officials, politicians and public figures.

Valerii Zaluzhnyi had the highest level of trust (70%), followed by Mykhailo Fedorov (65%), Kyrylo Budanov (62%) and Volodymyr Zelenskyy (59%).

Oleksandr Usyk was trusted by 54% of Ukrainians, while Oleksandr Syrskyi was trusted by 23% and Petro Poroshenko by 21%.

For reference: The Rating survey was conducted on 20-21 July 2026 using CATI (computer-assisted telephone interviewing).

A total of 1,000 respondents aged 18 and over were surveyed in all oblasts except the temporarily occupied territories and areas where Ukrainian mobile communications were unavailable at the time of the survey. The results were weighted using the latest data from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine.

The sample is representative by age, gender and type of settlement, with a margin of error of no more than 3.1% at a 95% confidence level.

Background:

• After six days of protests, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the dismissal of Oleksandr Syrskyi as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the appointment of Mykhailo Drapatyi to replace him.
• Summing up his work, Syrskyi said he was handing over an army that is on the offensive to Drapatyi.
• According to Ukrainska Pravda sources, Zelenskyy has offered Fedorov various options for remaining in government, including becoming deputy prime minister for technological development, but Fedorov is opposed to this because he does not understand why he was dismissed from the Defence Ministry.

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