Poll shows Zelenskyy and Zaluzhnyi would go neck and neck in first round of potential election

If the Ukrainian presidential election were held soon, most Ukrainians would vote for incumbent President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK and former Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi in the first round.

Source: results of a poll conducted by the Sociological Research Centre SOCIS on 6-11 June

Details: If these two were running, 21.8% of respondents would vote for Zelenskyy and 19.6% for Zaluzhnyi. It should be noted that a large number of respondents (24.7%) were undecided. The proposed list of candidates also included former President Petro Poroshenko, intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov, Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko, and others.

If we exclude the undecided votes, Zelenskyy would have received 30.9% in the first round, and Zaluzhnyi 27.7%.

In the second round, the SOCIS poll showed a victory for Zaluzhnyi, who would receive 41.4% of the vote. Zelenskyy would receive 27% of the vote, while another 15.7% of respondents would vote against both candidates. 

For reference: A total of 2,000 respondents were surveyed in the study using a quota-stratified sample and in-person interviews. The statistical margin of error (confidence interval) is +/- 2.6%.

Background:

• As reported in an Ukrainska Pravda article in February 2025, the SOCIS group is associated with Ihor Hryniv, Petro Poroshenko's former chief ideologist.
• The article also stated that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine's leading sociological services had concluded an unwritten gentleman's agreement: not to publish electoral ratings until the end of combat actions in order not to divide society into political camps.
• In February, a SOCIS poll showed that if Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Kyrylo Budanov, and many others from the military electoral niche were to run, President Zelenskyy would confidently hold second place. According to Socis, his rating was approximately 16%, or approximately 22% among those who had made up their minds and would come to vote.

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