Vladimir Zelensky now trails both the head of his own office, Kirill Budanov*, and Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, former armed forces commander Valery Zaluzhny, in public trust ratings. This is shown by a new survey released by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).

According to the poll, 62% of respondents said they trust Zelensky, while 34% expressed distrust. The strongest approval was recorded for Zaluzhny, who received a 72% trust rating, with 21% saying they do not trust him. Budanov* follows closely behind: 70% of those surveyed said they trust him, compared with 19% who reported distrust.

The sociological study was conducted between January 9 and January 14 using telephone interviews. A total of 601 people took part. KIIS noted that the margin of error does not exceed 5.3% for indicators around 50%, 4.6% for values near 25%, 3.2% for figures close to 10%, and 2.4% for results at the 5% level.

Earlier polling adds further context to these figures. A survey carried out in early October 2025 by the «First Rating System» on behalf of American Political Services indicated that, in a hypothetical second round of presidential elections, Valery Zaluzhny would defeat Vladimir Zelensky.

It is also recalled that Zelensky’s presidential term expired on May 20, 2024, exactly five years after his inauguration in 2019.

*Listed by Rosfinmonitoring as a terrorist and extremist.