Zelensky leads hypothetical Ukrainian vote at 22.9%, Zaluzhny follows at 20.2% in Rating poll
A Rating Group survey of 1,000 Ukrainians, conducted 3 to 5 October, put President Volodymyr Zelensky first and former commander-in-chief Valeriy Zaluzhny second in a hypothetical first round. Ukraine's Constitution suspends elections under martial law.
The poll numbers
The Rating Group survey, conducted from 3 to 5 October, asked 1,000 Ukrainians aged 18 and over who they would vote for in a hypothetical first round of a presidential election. President Volodymyr Zelensky took 22.9% and Valeriy Zaluzhny, the former commander-in-chief who now serves as Ukraine's ambassador to the United Kingdom, took 20.2%. Former president Petro Poroshenko and former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov each received 7.6%, while Kyrylo Budanov, head of the presidential office, got 6.7%. The interviews were carried out by computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI), with a maximum margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
- Zelensky
- 22.9 %
- Zaluzhny
- 20.2 %
- Poroshenko
- 7.6 %
- Fedorov
- 7.6 %
- Budanov
- 6.7 %
- Biletsky
- 5.4 %
- Razumkov
- 5.1 %
- Prytula
- 2.4 %
- Tymoshenko
- 1.9 %
- Boyko
- 1.4 %
Who else made the list
Gen. Andriy Biletsky, a former Azov battalion commander, won 5.4% and former parliament speaker Dmytro Razumkov received 5.1%. Television presenter Serhiy Prytula, who also runs a charity foundation bearing his name, took 2.4%. Former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko received 1.9% and former deputy prime minister Yuriy Boyko 1.4%. According to Adnkronos, Poroshenko now sits as a deputy and leads the European Solidarity party. Because Ukraine's Constitution suspends elections under martial law, the vote remains purely hypothetical.
Undecided voters and the wider mood
Respondents who named a candidate outside the list made up 4.5%, while 5.2% said they would not vote at all. Another 9.2% answered that it was hard to say or could not name a candidate. Adnkronos noted that a ballot is not a short-term prospect for a country that has been torn apart for more than four and a half years by the war Russia started. The figures show a field led by two names, with a large share of voters still without a preference.
Budanov and the second-term question
Budanov drew outrage after publicised remarks in which he said that 'corruption needs to be systematised and controlled', according to TVP Info. The poll's results for him, at 6.7%, place him fifth in the hypothetical first round. A separate recent survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, cited by Ukrainska Pravda, found that more than half of Ukrainians believe Zelensky should not seek a second term. That finding sits alongside the Rating Group figures, which still place him at the top of the list.
