Some 69% of Ukrainians trust President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to a poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology published on March 27.
The results counter claims by tech billionaire Elon Musk, a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, who wrote on X on March 6 that Zelensky would “lose by a landslide” if Ukraine held an election.
The survey found that only 28% of respondents do not trust Zelensky, resulting in a trust-distrust balance of +41%. Conducted from March 12 to 22, the poll interviewed 1,326 adults in government-controlled territories.
The poll indicates that trust in Zelensky remains relatively stable, with no significant change from a previous survey conducted from Feb. 14 to March 4.
A prior poll published on March 7 showed that Zelensky’s approval rating had risen to 68% following his tense Feb. 28 meeting with Trump at the White House, which ended in a public dispute over security guarantees and the cancellation of a minerals agreement.
Trump has also labeled Zelensky a “dictator without elections,” blaming him for prolonging the war. However, Ukraine’s constitution prohibits elections under martial law, which has been in effect since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Legal experts say Zelensky’s term extension is permitted under Ukrainian law.
A February survey before the clash with Trump put Zelensky’s trust level at 57%, with a trust-distrust balance of +20%.
We asked Ukrainian soldiers if they’d fight Russia ‘with their bare hands’ rather than accept a bad ceasefire
CIA Director John Ratcliffe on March 25 gave a rousing assessment of Kyiv’s desire to achieve an acceptable and lasting peace in Ukraine, insisting its people and armed forces would fight Russia with “their bare hands” if they had to. “I want to say that with regard to the Ukrainian
