{"id":7702,"date":"2026-08-07T07:22:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T07:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/?p=7702"},"modified":"2026-08-07T13:46:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T13:46:32","slug":"zelensky-would-lose-presidential-election-poll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/07\/zelensky-would-lose-presidential-election-poll\/","title":{"rendered":"Zelensky would lose presidential election \u2013 poll"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Ukrainian leader would stand no chance against any of his three main rivals in the second round, a new survey suggests<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vladimir Zelensky would overwhelmingly lose a Ukrainian presidential election if it were staged now, a new survey by local pollster Socis suggests.<\/p>\n

Zelensky\u2019s term expired in May 2024, but he has refused to call a new vote, citing martial law, which he imposed after the escalation between Russia and Ukraine in February 2022.<\/p>\n

According to the Socis poll published on Thursday, the Ukrainian leader would make it to the second round of a hypothetical election, only to be defeated by any of his three main rivals.<\/p>\n

Former top Ukrainian general Valery Zaluzhny, who serves as Kiev\u2019s ambassador to London after being dismissed as army commander-in-chief in February 2024, would beat Zelensky by 66.2% to 33.8%, the figures by Socis suggested.<\/p>\n

Despite being out of the country, Zaluzhny has consistently topped the trust ratings in Ukraine. Publicly, the general says he harbors no political ambitions, but media reports claim he is gearing up for a presidential run.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"Ukrainian
Kiev used virtually all NATO tools against Russia \u2013 ex-top general<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Zelensky\u2019s chief of staff, Kirill Budanov, would also defeat him in the second round by 60.3% to 39.7%, the pollster said.<\/p>\n

Reports have claimed that the Ukrainian leader appointed Budanov as the head of his office in January in order to keep him close due to concerns over the former special forces soldier\u2019s growing power as the chief of military intelligence (HUR).<\/p>\n

Since taking the job, Budanov has contradicted his boss on numerous occasions, including by speaking about the need for talks with Moscow, downplaying Ukraine\u2019s technological advances, and acknowledging difficulties with mobilization,<\/p>\n

Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov, who was sacked in mid-July, would defeat Zelensky in the vote by 63.8% to 36.2%, according to Socis.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"Former
Zelensky fired me over anti-graft reforms \u2013 ex-Ukrainian defense minister<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Fedorov\u2019s removal provoked protests in Kiev and other cities, with demonstrators demanding his reinstatement. The former minister, who has declined all other positions offered to him, said he will not challenge Zelensky politically as long as the conflict with Russia continues.<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian leader reportedly removed Fedorov over fears that he could become a political rival, and also due to his close ties to Western-backed anti-corruption bodies in the country.<\/p>\n

The study by Socis was carried out between July 28 and August 2, involving 2,000 respondents.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera in March, Zelensky said Ukraine will \u201ccertainly\u201d<\/em> hold a presidential election, but only after the conflict with Russia ends. \u201cI\u2019m not at all sure that I\u2019ll run, I\u2019ll see what the Ukrainians want,\u201d<\/em> he claimed.<\/p>\n

Moscow has described Zelensky as illegitimate, with his dubious status potentially being an obstacle to signing a peace agreement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ukrainian leader would stand no chance against any of his three main rivals in the second round, a new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7704,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7702"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7702"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7707,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7702\/revisions\/7707"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}