Zaluzhny and Budanov lead trust rating among politicians and public figures – Socis poll

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United Kingdom and former Commander-in-Chief of the AFU Valeriy Zaluzhny leads the trust rating among Ukrainian politicians and public figures, with 61.6% of Ukrainians trusting him and 31.1% distrusting him, according to the results of a sociological study by the Socis company conducted March 12-18.

Nearly identical figures were recorded for the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, with 60.3% of respondents expressing trust and 29% expressing distrust. 3.7% of respondents do not know him.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov also has a positive trust balance (38.9% of respondents fully or somewhat trust him, while 34.8% fully or somewhat distrust him). While incumbent President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has a higher trust level (46.3%), his trust balance is negative—49.1% of those surveyed distrust him. 3.7% of respondents do not know Terekhov.

High levels of trust were also noted for boxer Oleksandr Usyk (37.2%), Head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration Vitaliy Kim (36.8%), and Minister of Defense of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov (32.9%), though more respondents partially or completely distrust them—47.5%, 42.3%, and 38.7% respectively. 2.5% of Ukrainians do not know Usyk, 8.8% do not know Kim, and 16.6% do not know Fedorov.

Other politicians and public figures have trust levels below 20% and distrust levels exceeding 50%. Among them are Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, People’s Deputy and leader of the "European Solidarity" party Petro Poroshenko, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov, Head of the Kryvyi Rih Defense Council Oleksandr Vilkul, Head of the Tax Committee Danylo Hetmantsev, Verkhovna Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk, and People’s Deputy and leader of the "Batkivshchyna" All-Ukrainian Union Yulia Tymoshenko.

A total of 1,204 respondents were interviewed for the study using a quota stratified sample across all government-controlled territories of Ukraine. The research method was face-to-face personal interviews using tablets (CAPI). The statistical margin of error (confidence interval) is ±2.5%.