Zelenskyy and ambassador Zaluzhnyi lead presidential ratings, highest "second-choice" support revealed

If presidential elections were held next Sunday, 22.6% of respondents would vote for current President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 19.3% for Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine's ambassador to the UK, and 10.5% for Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the President's Office, who at the same time has the highest "second-choice" rating among voters.

Source: results of a survey conducted by SOCIS on 12-18 March

Details: Among those who have decided and say they would vote in the elections, 29.3% would vote for Zelenskyy and 25% for Zaluzhnyi.

In third place is Budanov, whom 10.5% of respondents and 13.7% of decided voters said they would support. In fourth place is Petro Poroshenko, MP and leader of the European Solidarity party, who would receive 5.7% of respondents' votes, or 7.4% among decided voters.

Next in the ranking are Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov with 3.4%, independent MP Dmytro Razumkov with 3.3% and Andrii Biletskyi, Commander of the 3rd Army Corps, with 3.1%. Among decided voters, each would receive between 4% and 4.4%.

Next comes MP and Batkivshchyna party leader Yuliia Tymoshenko, who would receive 2.2% support overall and 2.9% among decided voters.

Volunteer and public figure Serhii Prytula and Vitalii Kim, Head of Mykolaiv Oblast Military Administration, would each receive just over 1%. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko and Oleksandr Vilkul, Head of Kryvyi Rih City Defence Council, would receive less than 1%. Another 3.6% would support a different candidate.

Meanwhile, 6.7% said they would not take part in the elections and 16.2% remained undecided.

The poll also measured the so-called "second choice". If their preferred candidate were absent, 22.7% of respondents would support Budanov, 17.5% would support Zaluzhnyi, while Zelenskyy would receive 6.3%.

The survey was conducted on 12-18 March 2026 among 1,204 respondents aged 18 and over using computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI).

The survey was not conducted in Crimea, in Luhansk Oblast, in temporarily occupied territories and in areas where active hostilities are ongoing (a significant part of Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv oblasts).

The statistical margin of error is approximately 2.5%.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!