Over 60% of Ukrainians do not support Fedorov's dismissal – survey

Over 60% of Ukrainians hold a negative or predominantly negative view of Mykhailo Fedorov's dismissal as defence minister, with over 57% supporting protests against his removal.

Source: a sociological survey conducted 28 July-2 August by the Centre for Social Research Socis

Details: Asked about their attitude to Fedorov's dismissal, 39.1% of respondents chose the option "negative" and 23.4% chose "more negative than positive". Thus, 62.5% do not support the former minister's dismissal.

7.7% of respondents reacted positively to Fedorov's dismissal, and 11.9% predominantly positively.

At the same time, 63.5% of respondents hold a positive or predominantly positive view of Oleksandr Syrskyi's dismissal as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces.

Respondents believe that Fedorov's dismissal was most influenced by his conflict with Syrskyi (26.7%), as well as "pressure on the president from his corrupt entourage" (24.4%).

A majority of respondents (57.6%) fully or somewhat support the protests against Fedorov's dismissal. 26.2% do not support the protests at all or somewhat do not support them.

The highest share of respondents (35.3%) would like to see Fedorov in the future as defence minister. A further 15.1% chose the option "minister of digital transformation," 10.5% see him as deputy prime minister for new military technologies, and 9.6% as prime minister.

In the event of presidential elections, almost half of respondents would see Fedorov as an independent candidate, while 12.8% would see him as part of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's team.

Similarly, more respondents see Office of the President chief Kyrylo Budanov as an independent candidate than as part of Zelenskyy's team (33.4% against 19.8%).

The survey involved 2,000 respondents. It was not conducted in temporarily occupied Crimea, in Luhansk Oblast, on temporarily occupied territories or in areas where active combat operations are taking place.

Research method: personal interview using tablets (CAPI). Statistical margin of error (confidence interval): +/– 2.6%.

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