The poll, published by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) on Tuesday, shows that 39% of respondents said they did not trust Zelensky, while 9% were unable to answer.
KIIS recalled that confidence in Zelensky was at 80% after he won the presidential election in 2019, on a platform of building peace in the country, but by early 2022, just before the conflict with Russia escalated, it had fallen to just 37%.
The first months after the escalation with Russia saw the level of trust in the Ukrainian leader skyrocket to 90% but it has since steadily decreased, according to the results of the poll.
The survey involved 2,000 respondents aged over 18 from all territories controlled by Kiev. They were interviewed by telephone, the poll authors said.
The director of KIIS, Anton Grushetsky, attributed the fall in Zelensky’s trust rating to “merciless and uncompromising criticism” of the leader by politicians, activists, and journalists, who “are more concerned with their ‘niche’ than with the desire for the country’s progress.”
“We remind you that in the conditions of a full-scale war, the president is not only ‘one of the politicians’ operating in the country, but also the personification of a critically important public institution,” Grushetsky said.
Zelensky remains in power in Ukraine despite his term having officially expired in May last year. He cancelled the presidential election, citing the martial law he imposed due to the conflict with Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his end-of-year press conference last month that he would only be able to engage in peace talks with Zelensky if he holds a vote and wins it to restore his legitimacy.
The decline in the level of confidence in the Ukrainian leader occurred amid Russia’s steady advances along the front line in 2024, and harsh mobilization laws signed by Zelensky in an attempt to deal with troop shortages in the Kiev forces.
