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

During January 23-29, 2026, the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) conducted its own all-Ukrainian public opinion survey, which, among other things, included questions about trust in President V. Zelenskyy, perception of the prospects of the Ukrainian government, and the state of democracy in Ukraine. 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), 1,003 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 such a sample (with a probability of 0.95 and taking into account the design effect of 1.3) did not exceed 4.1%. At the same time, an experiment was conducted for the question about trust in President V. Zelenskyy, where half of the respondents (i.e. about 500) were asked a regular direct question (to what extent the respondent trusts or does not trust him), and the other half were asked the “imagined acquaintance” method. Therefore, for this question, the error does not exceed 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.

In this survey, as usual, we asked questions about trust in President V. Zelenskyy, but at the same time conducted an experiment. We asked one half of the respondents a direct question about how much they personally trust or do not trust V. Zelenskyy. We asked the other half of the respondents a question using the “imagined acquaintance” method. We wanted to assess the sincerity of the respondents’ answers, taking into account the sensitivity of the question (since some experts believe that surveys do not reflect public sentiment due to, for example, fear of criticizing the authorities). The results for the direct question are presented below (graph 1), and then (graph 2) – the results of the experiment.

So, currently, the majority of Ukrainians – 61% – continue to trust the President, 33% do not trust him. The balance of trust-distrust is +28%. In mid-January 2026, the indicators were almost identical.

Graph 1. To what extent do you trust or distrust Volodymyr Zelenskyy?

It should be noted that among the 61% who trust the President, 25% trust him “ ”. The remaining 36% trust him “rather” (and among the 33% who do not trust him, 17% “completely” do not trust him and 16% “rather”do not trust him).

In this context, let us recall that according to the results of a KIIS survey in September 2025, among those who “completely” trust V. Zelenskyy, the majority would like to see him as President after the war. And among those who “rather” trust him, the majority would not want him to continue as President after the war[1]. Therefore, most likely, the motivation of those who answer “completely” and “rather” trust is somewhat different. For example, those who “completely” trust may be largely sincere and convinced sympathizers of V. Zelenskyy (that is why they want to continue to see him as President). At the same time, those who “rather” trust may criticize V. Zelenskyy to a greater extent, be dissatisfied with certain actions and decisions, but be guided by the “statesman” logic of the need for unity in war conditions and therefore answer in surveys that they trust the President, but “rather” (and at the same time want to see someone new at the head of the state after the war).

The graph below compares the results when the question is asked directly and when it is asked using the “imagined acquaintance” method. For the “imagined acquaintance” method, respondents were asked the question “Now there will be a slightly unusual question. Please think of someone you know really well. It could be yourself. Or a family member, a work colleague, a friend, etc. We won’t know this in any case. Have you thought? And this person you have in mind, does he or she rather trust or not Volodymyr Zelenskyy?”. Our previous experiments showed that this question provides respondents with anonymity (respondents often thought of themselves or people very similar in views) and ensures sincerity of answers even on questions to which a sincere answer may indicate illegal activity (in particular, we have successfully studied the shadow economy).

As can be seen, In both cases, the President has high trust, but still, using the "imagined acquaintance" method, the level of trust is lower - 53% versus 61% if a direct question is asked.

Accordingly, we can assume that the real level of trust in V. Zelenskyy is somewhat lower than what the surveys show. However, the question remains open as to why this is happening – because of the fear of criticizing the President or for some other reason? Our cautious assumption is that to a lesser extent it is about the fear of criticism. Currently, the media is quite free to criticize the President and his entourage. In addition, 81% of Ukrainians use the Internet daily (and 11%, although less often, also use it)[2], which makes it easy for the absolute majority of citizens to find alternative sources of information. Therefore, it should be easy to express a critical opinion about the President's activities. And, by the way, in the survey we mentioned above, in fact, the majority freely expressed that V. Zelensky should not be President after the war.

A more significant reason, in our opinion, is that some people in the survey give a “statesman” answer. That is, people may criticize the President and be dissatisfied with his actions. But since there is an awareness of the need to unite in the current war period, in the survey they will say that “yes, we trust our President.” And when we ask these same people about the views of an “imagined acquaintance,” this factor (“statesman” position) plays a smaller role and we get a slightly different assessment of trust.

Graph 2. Trust in President V. Zelenskyy: direct question and question using the “imagined acquaintance” method

Another question that interested us was the fact that the majority of the population is dissatisfied with the actions of the Government and Parliament (in December 2025, only 12% trusted the Verkhovna Rada and only 23% trusted the Government) [3]), Is there a clear desire to "get rid" of the entire current government after the war? Do Ukrainians still believe that among the current government there are those who have proven themselves as true professionals and leaders and "have the right" to remain in power?

As the survey results show, half of respondents (48%) believe that there are real professionals among the current government and that they can remain in power after the war. However, only slightly fewer (42%) consider the current government to be completely tainted and argue that none of its representatives should remain in power after the war.

Graph 3. "Which of these statements about the current government do you agree with to a greater extent?"

The more respondents trust the President, the more (as expected) among them there are those who believe that among the current government there are worthy representatives who can remain in power after the war.

However, we should note that even among those who “completely” trust the President, there are 19% who consider the government to be completely tainted and do not want to see anyone in power after the war. Among those who “rather” trust, the indicator is higher – 28%. In turn, the situation is mirrored among those who do not trust the President. Thus, among those who “completely” do not trust, 10% still recognize that individual representatives of the government are professionals and leaders. And among those who “rather” do not trust, 40% see professionals and leaders who can remain in power after the war.

Graph 4. Perception of the prospects of the current Ukrainian government depending on trust in President V. Zelenskyy

We also explore various issues related to the assessment of democracy in Ukraine. In this survey, we asked whether there is too much or too little democracy in Ukraine now, given the war?

Considering that there is currently a war and martial law, 36% believe that there is as much democracy in the country as there should be in such conditions. Another 16% believe that there is even too much democracy. At the same time a third of Ukrainians (35%) believe that there is not enough democracy now. The remaining 14% could not decide on their opinion.

Graph 5. There is currently a war and martial law in the country. Given these circumstances, in your opinion, in Ukraine currently there is …?

Respondents who believe that there is too little democracy in Ukraine now were asked an additional open-ended question about why they hold this view. Thus, most often respondents associated the lack of democracy now with the inability to criticize the authorities / restrictions on freedom of speech (19%), the activities of the TCR (17%), the fact that the interests of ordinary people are not taken into account / ordinary people are unprotected (16%), lawlessness / violation of laws and abuse of power by the authorities (15%), corruption (15%).

It should be noted separately that few people spoke about the lack of elections (only 1%, so we don't graph it as the top answer).

Also, since the issue of mobilization is sensitive, we note that in terms of the total population, there are only 6% of those who believe that there is too little democracy in the country and at the same time explain this by the actions of the TCR.

Graph 6. Why do you think that in the current conditions of war in Ukraine there is too little democracy?

Open question, top answers, % among those who believe that there is too little democracy in Ukraine now

As can be seen in Graph 7, the perception of the state of democracy is linked to trust in the President.

Graph 7. The state of democracy in Ukraine depending on trust in President V. Zelensky

A. Hrushetskyi, comments on the survey results:

V. Zelenskyy retains high public trust and, accordingly, is a legitimate head of state. In particular, few of our respondents believed that there was too little democracy in Ukraine and at the same time spoke about the lack of elections. That is, there is currently no public demand for national elections to be held as soon as possible.

Obviously, the priority remains to end the war on terms acceptable to Ukraine, and V. Zelenskyy is, in the eyes of the majority of the public, the leader who should bring the country to peace. Of course, the motivation of different people may be different. For someone, holding any elections is a destructive process for Ukraine, which will only undermine defense capabilities. Therefore, even despite criticism of V. Zelenskyy, maintaining institutional stability is more important, and therefore these people are ready to “tolerate” him as head of state until the end of the war. Other people may be sincerely impressed by V. Zelenskyy’s talents and consider him a truly effective leader in a wartime period. Therefore, for them, the issue of a conditional “reset” of power through elections is not acute. In any case, these “camps” are united by a “statesman” view and an understanding of the priority of success in the war. Everything else then obeys the logic of how much it brings Ukraine closer or, conversely, further away from an acceptable peace.

At the same time, the situation for the President is definitely not “cloudless”. A significant part of the trust in him is a reflection of the previously mentioned “statesman” position (this is in addition to the rather high distrust – after all, a third of Ukrainians do not trust him). Therefore, we see that the same people can now “trust” the President and oppose the elections, but at the same time respond that after the war they do not want to see anyone from the current government in leadership positions. That is, criticism is accumulating – as is a certain “fatigue”. And this is against the background of the emergence of a new generation of leaders among military personnel and volunteers, whom many (even the majority, rather!) consider worthy to lead the country further. Therefore, the demand for new leaders after the war is quite expected.

Appendix 1. Formulation of questions from the questionnaire

HALF OF RESPONDENTS – OPTION 1. HALF – OPTION 2

OPTION 1. To what extent do you trust or distrust Volodymyr Zelenskyy? READ

OPTION 2. Now there will be a slightly unusual question. Please think of someone you know really well. It could be yourself. Or a family member, a work colleague, a friend, etc. We won’t know this in any case. Have you thought? SEPARATE SCREEN WITH BUTTON "YES".

AFTER "YES" (TRANSFER TO NEXT SCREEN): And this person you have in mind, does he or she rather trust or not Volodymyr Zelenskyy? READ

Which of these statements about the current government do you agree with to a greater extent? READ. RANDOMIZATION OF ORDER

There is currently a war and martial law in the country. Given these circumstances, in your opinion, in Ukraine currently there is …

IF 1: Why do you think that in the current conditions of war in Ukraine there is too little democracy?

_____________________________________________________________________________