![Valerii Zaluzhnyi, former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces and ambassador to the United Kingdom, tours an exhibition at the Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset, England, in April last year. [Getty Images]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/08/08/news-p.v1.20260808.68cf2d7ba0e84f4a8146ba32d80eea38_P1.jpg)
New polling shows Ukrainians trust Ambassador to the United Kingdom Valerii Zaluzhnyi more than President Volodymyr Zelensky, drawing attention to the murky outlook for any future presidential election.
According to Ukrainian polling firm Rating, a survey of 1,000 adults nationwide — excluding Russian-occupied territories — conducted Wednesday through Thursday found that Zaluzhnyi topped the trust rankings at 68 percent, combining "fully trust" and "generally trust" responses.
Presidential Chief of Staff Kyrylo Budanov came second at 62 percent, while Zelensky placed third at 59 percent. Mykhailo Fedorov, the former defense minister recently dismissed by Zelensky, followed at 58 percent, with newly appointed Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi at 56 percent.
Among the same five figures, Zelensky led the distrust rankings at 38 percent, combining "fully distrust" and "generally distrust" responses. Zaluzhnyi and Budanov each registered 21 percent.
Asked who they would vote for if a presidential election were held soon, 25.2 percent named Zelensky — the highest share — followed by Zaluzhnyi at 16.7 percent, Fedorov at 12.5 percent and Budanov at 7.9 percent. The survey carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.
A separate face-to-face poll by the Social Research Center (Socis), conducted July 28 through Sunday among 2,000 respondents with the same margin of error, produced similar results. Zaluzhnyi led with 27.8 percent saying they "fully trust" him, followed by Fedorov at 26.8 percent. Zelensky ranked sixth at 18.0 percent.
The gap widened further in a weighted trust index that assigned separate scores to each response option, from "fully trust" to "fully distrust." Fedorov led at 63.0 percent, with Zaluzhnyi second at 61.0 percent, while Zelensky ranked ninth overall at 42.0 percent.
In a hypothetical presidential election question, Zelensky drew 17.8 percent support, with Zaluzhnyi close behind at 17.1 percent and Fedorov at 10.5 percent.
However, when respondents were presented with a head-to-head runoff scenario — reflecting Ukrainian electoral law, which requires a second round between the top two candidates if no one wins a majority in the first round — Zaluzhnyi pulled far ahead with 47.4 percent against Zelensky's 24.2 percent.
Zelensky also trailed in a hypothetical runoff against Fedorov, losing 24.7 percent to 43.4 percent.
Zelensky won the presidency in May 2019 and was due to complete his five-year term in May 2024, but has remained in office without holding an election, citing the martial law imposed after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Zaluzhnyi rose to national hero status as commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces in the early days of the war, leading the resistance against Russia. Zelensky dismissed him in February 2024 over disagreements on how to conduct the war, after which he was appointed ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Ukrainian media recently reported that Zelensky summoned Zaluzhnyi to the capital Kyiv in May, telling him a "window of opportunity" for holding elections had opened and sounding out his intentions about running for president.
Zelensky reportedly urged Zaluzhnyi not to run in order to prevent internal divisions, but Zaluzhnyi made clear his intention to challenge Zelensky, saying he "cannot betray the expectations of the people."
Fedorov, who was abruptly removed last month after successfully leading Ukraine's drone campaign against Russia — a dismissal that triggered a backlash against Zelensky — is also emerging as a dark horse in Ukrainian politics.
yckim6452@heraldcorp.com
