Zelensky gains 14 percentage points in trust poll amid Trump pressure
Trust reached 57% in the later polling period, but the result for the survey as a whole was unchanged from late August and early September.
A Ukrainian poll published on Oct. 20 found a rise in public trust in President Volodymyr Zelensky after U.S. President Donald Trump began pressuring Ukraine. The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) measured trust at 57% for Oct. 10–16, compared with 43% for Oct. 8–9, an increase of 14 percentage points.
Distrust dropped to 39% in the later period from 52% in the earlier one. Across all interviews conducted during Oct. 8–16, trust stood at 54% and distrust at 41%. Those aggregate figures were identical to the results recorded in late August and early September.
The survey coincided with deteriorating U.S.-Ukrainian relations. Kyiv accuses Washington of using military assistance and technology access to press Ukraine to halt attacks on Russian oil refineries. Trump has suggested that Ukraine find another person to negotiate on its behalf. On Oct. 9, he outlined a plan to purchase Russian diesel despite U.S. sanctions and ordered Ukraine to stop striking the refineries.
Anton Hrushetskyi, KIIS executive director, said criticism over corruption among Zelensky's team and personnel choices becomes quieter on questions of international representation and defense support. The institute's telephone survey used randomly selected cell phone numbers to interview 1,031 Ukrainian citizens aged 18 and older in government-controlled regions.
