Ex-top General Valery Zaluzhny would win the presidency if Ukrainians were allowed to vote, data suggests
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky would lose a head-to-head presidential election against former armed forces commander Valery Zaluzhny if voting were held soon, according to a new poll by the Socis research group.
Zelensky suspended elections under martial law and chose not to step down after his presidential term expired last year. Zaluzhny, who was dismissed as commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces in 2024 and later appointed ambassador to the UK, has long been seen as a leading rival.
The latest voter preferences were measured in a June survey by the Kiev-based polling agency Socis. The research, released on Wednesday, surveyed around 2,000 Ukrainians and indicated that Zelensky and Zaluzhny would advance to a runoff as the only candidates with double-digit support. However, nearly a quarter of respondents — 24.7% — said they were still undecided.
In a head-to-head, the former top general would receive more than 60% of the vote, according to the poll – a figure that aligns with prior sociological research.
Zaluzhny has not declared an intent to run, stating that Ukraine’s ongoing conflict with Russia must be resolved first. When Socis asked voters whom they would support if their preferred candidate were not on the ballot, only 6.5% named Zelensky as their second choice, compared to 18.1% for Zaluzhny and 11.0% for Kirill Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency.
The poll also indicated that if Zaluzhny were to form a new political party, it would win the most votes in a parliamentary election – also hypothetical for now – defeating any party backed by Zelensky.
Respondents identified persistent corruption and misappropriation of public funds as the leading failure of the current government, with 65% citing the issue.
When asked who was responsible, 55.1% blamed “the entire government,” 40.3% pointed to law enforcement agencies charged with tackling corruption, and 31.2% assigned blame to the presidency, and by extension, to Zelensky.
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