Incumbent Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukraine's Ambassador to the UK and former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (2021–2024) Valeriy Zaluzhny would garner the most votes if a presidential election were held in the second half of September 2026, according to a survey by the Sociopolis company conducted from September 16 to 21, 2026.
The survey results indicate that 19.1% of all respondents—or 23% of those who would vote and had made a choice—would vote for Zelenskyy, while 19% and 22.9%, respectively, would vote for Zaluzhny.
Next in the presidential rankings are MP and European Solidarity party leader Petro Poroshenko (supported by 8.9% of all respondents and 10.7% of decided voters); Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine and former Chief of the Main Intelligence Agency of the Ministry of Defence Kyrylo Budanov (7.9% and 9.5%, respectively); Third Army Corps Commander Andriy Biletsky (7.2% and 8.7%); former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov (6.3% and 7.6%); and MP Dmytro Razumkov (5.7% and 6.9%). World boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk would be supported by 2.7% of all respondents (and 3.2% of those who would vote and had made their choice), while MP and leader of the All-Ukrainian Union Batkivschyna, Yulia Tymoshenko, would receive 2.5% and 3% respectively.
At the same time, 8.5% of respondents were undecided on whom to vote for, 7.2% would not participate in the vote, and 1.2% would spoil their ballot.
In a hypothetical presidential runoff between Zaluzhny and Zelenskyy, 46.1% of all respondents would vote for Zaluzhny and 28% for Zelenskyy. Among those who would vote and had made their choice, the figures are 62.2% and 37.8%, respectively. Some 16.4% of respondents would not vote, 4.8% would spoil their ballot, and 4.7% were undecided.
In a matchup between Budanov and Zelenskyy, 35.6% of all respondents would vote for Budanov and 26.9% for Zelenskyy. In a matchup between Budanov and Fedorov, 36% of all respondents would vote for Budanov and 26.2% for Fedorov. In a matchup between Budanov and Zaluzhny, 29.4% of all respondents would vote for Budanov and 43.6% for Zaluzhny.
In a matchup between Zelenskyy and Fedorov, 31.7% of all respondents would vote for Zelenskyy and 33.6% for Fedorov. In a hypothetical matchup between Zaluzhny and Fedorov, 45.4% of all respondents would vote for Zaluzhny, while 24.4% would vote for Fedorov.
According to the press service of the research company Sociopolis, more than half of the respondents (53.6%) believe that, in the event of a genuine cessation of hostilities and the scheduling of elections, the presidential and parliamentary elections should be held simultaneously. Meanwhile, 22.2% of respondents believe the presidential election should take place first, and 19% believe the election of Verkhovna Rada deputies should come first.
The survey was conducted using telephone interviews (CATI) based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers among 1,002 residents of government-controlled areas of Ukraine aged 18 and older. The theoretical statistical margin of error for the proportion of a characteristic—at a confidence level of 0.95 and excluding the design effect—does not exceed 3.1% for figures close to 50% and 1.4% for figures close to 5% or 95%.
