40% of Ukrainians trust new Commander-in-Chief, 90% maintain support for former chief, survey shows

As of February 2024, 40% of Ukrainians expressed trust in Oleksandr Syrskyi, the new Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, while the highest level of trust is maintained by the former chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, at 94%.

Source: a survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), conducted on 5-10 February 2024

Details: Survey data indicates that formally, 40% of respondents trust Syrskyi, 21% do not, and 4% have an undefined attitude.

Sociologists note that in December and February, 48% and 35% of respondents, respectively, knew nothing about Syrskyi. Accordingly, trust in the Commander-in-Chief was higher among those who were aware of him.

Among the 13 figures on the list, 94% of Ukrainians trust the former commander-in-chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, with only 5% expressing distrust.

Among the military leadership, the public’s trust in Kyrylo Budanov, Head of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, increased from 60% in December 2023 to 66% in February. Only 19% of respondents expressed distrust towards him.

Read more: An army without Zaluzhnyi: Who is General Syrskyi, Ukraine's new Commander-in-Chief?

The KIIS survey was conducted from 5 February to 10 February  2024, using computer-assisted telephone interviews. A total of 1,202 respondents aged 18 and older from all regions of Ukraine (excluding the Autonomous Republic of Crimea) were surveyed.

Of the total interviews, 874 were conducted before 8 February, inclusive, which is before the dismissal of Valerii Zaluzhnyi. The remaining 328 interviews were conducted after his dismissal on 9 and 10 February.

Residents of territories temporarily not controlled by the Ukrainian government were not included in the sample, and the survey was not conducted with citizens living abroad.

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