The press release was prepared by Anton Hrushetskyi, executive director of KIIS

From July 23 to August 4, 2025, the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) conducted its own all-Ukrainian public opinion survey "Omnibus", to which, on its own initiative, added a question about what is more important for Ukraine - the presence of a strong leader or a democratic system. By the method of telephone interviews (computer-assistedtelephoneinterviews, CATI) based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers (with random generation of phone numbers and subsequent statistical weighting) in all regions of Ukraine (the territory controlled by the Government of Ukraine), 1,022 respondents were surveyed. The survey was conducted with adult (aged 18 and older) citizens of Ukraine who, at the time of the survey, lived in the territory of Ukraine controlled by the Government of Ukraine. The sample did not include residents of territories temporarily not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities (at the same time, some of the respondents are IDPs who moved from the occupied territories), and the survey was not conducted with citizens who left abroad after February 24, 2022.

Formally, under normal circumstances, the statistical error of a sample of 1022 respondents (with a probability of 0.95 and taking into account the design effect of 1.3) does not exceed 4.1%. In order to avoid the effect of the order of responses, we asked half of the respondents questions about importance now, and half of the respondents about importance in general (and not at this moment). Thus, 502 respondents answered the question about importance now, and 520 respondents answered the question about importance in general, which gives an error (with a probability of 0.95 and taking into account the design effect of 1.3) of no more than 5.8%.

Under conditions of war, in addition to the specified formal error, a certain systematic deviation is added. Factors that may affect the quality of results in "wartime" conditions were previously cited by KIIS.

In general, we believe that the obtained results are still highly representative and allow a fairly reliable analysis of the public moods of the population.

So, if to ask what is generally important for Ukraine, more Ukrainians prefer a democratic system – 48% versus 36% who consider having a strong leader more important. Compared to December 2023, we see that fewer people are talking about a democratic system – a decrease from 59% to 48%. Instead, there become more undecided people – from 8% to 16%. At the trend level, there is also an increase in those who prefer a strong leader – from 32% to 36%. However, compared to the situation before the full-scale invasion, there is still a clear advantage in favor of a democratic system (in October 2020, more than half preferred a strong leader).

If to ask what Ukraine needs now, the situation becomes mirrored and 48% already prefer to have a strong leader. 35% say that the democratic system is important now. Moreover, we asked this question earlier in July 2022. As you can see, then the demand for a strong leader was higher now – 58% in the summer of 2022 versus 48% in the summer of 2025. Instead, from 27% to 35%, there were more of those who already see a greater need for a democratic system.

Graph 1. With which of these statements do you agree to a greater extent? / What of these is more important for Ukraine now?

Below in the table, the data are given in a regional section[6], and also in terms of the age of the respondents. In all regions there is a tendency that more people talk about a strong leader if it is a need now, and less – about it in general. And the same applies to the democratic system: more support if it is a need in general and lower – if it is a need now.

In terms of age, it is worth noting that among young people under 30, the largest number of those who strategically consider a democratic system more important than a strong leader is 67%, compared to 46% among 30-59 year olds and 41% among 60+ year olds. Moreover, while among 30-59 year olds there is at least a relative advantage of supporters of a democratic system, among 60+ year olds the same number advocate a democratic system/strong leader.

In case of need, the priority in favor of a democratic system still remains among young people – 48% versus 35% who prefer a strong leader. Among 30-44 year olds, we already see parity (approximately the same number now consider it important for the country to have a strong leader / democratic system), and among 45-59 and 60+ year olds, more than half prefer a strong leader.

Table 1. Strong leader vs. democratic system in terms of region and age

The table below shows the data among those who trust and those who do not trust the President of Ukraine V. Zelenskyy. As can be seen, those who do not trust the President have a much greater demand for Ukraine to be strategically a democratic system – 63% versus 26% who prefer a strong leader. Among those who trust the President, opinions are evenly divided – 42% prefer a democratic system, and 44% prefer a strong leader.

In the case of need, now, both among those who trust the President and among those who do not trust him, there are more who emphasize strong leadership (and again, those who trust the President see a greater need for a strong leader).   

Table 2. Strong leader vs. democratic system in terms of trust in the President

A. Hrushetskyi, comments on the survey results:

It is difficult to deny the need for strong leaders now, in a time of full-scale war, but strategically, for the future, the choice between a strong leader and a democratic system is an important value choice that needs to be discussed.

In January 2023, a KIIS survey for NDI asked which three criteria for a fully functioning democracy were most important. So, 61% said about freedom of speech, 58% said about fair justice for all, and 47% said about free and fair elections[7].

Currently, the majority of Ukrainians are against holding elections until the war is over[8]. In the case of freedom of speech, there are some complaints about, for example, the “Yedyni Novyny” telethon or other situations in the media sphere. However, among the 41% of Ukrainians who believe that the country is moving towards authoritarianism, only 7% cite restrictions in the media sphere as a reason[9]. That is, there is some criticism in society regarding these criteria, but, most likely, it is not the determining factor.

The situation is much worse in ensuring fair justice, and in a broader interpretation – in achieving justice in society. Trust in courts and prosecutors is critically low in Ukraine[10] and, as we noted in the press release, there is a high demand for extrajudicial prosecution of corrupt officials.

Perhaps the choice between a strong leader and a democratic system in the minds of Ukrainians is a choice of the path that is more optimal for achieving justice. However, it should be taken into account that Ukrainian society is traumatized by the war and reacts sharply to injustice. Therefore, it will be easy to find those who will offer simple recipes for achieving justice with a strong-willed leader, but, most likely, these recipes will have little in common with democracy, the rule of law and respect for people's rights. And it is very possible that they will not provide the dreamed-of justice (except for the pleasure of reprisals against individual hated public figures).

In the long term, Ukraine must continue to build effective, stable democratic institutions. This is a long process, “a two-step-forward-one-step-back process”, a process with various challenges, but it is necessary if we want to see a successful country in the future.

Annex 1. Formulation of questions from the questionnaire

HALF OPTION A, HALF – OPTION Б

А. What of these is more important for Ukraine NOW? RANDOMIZATION OF THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS

Б. With which of these statements do you agree to a greater extent? RANDOMIZATION OF THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS