Poll: Ukrainiansʼ trust in Zelensky increased after US-Russia diesel deal

After the US and Russia reached an agreement to lift sanctions on Russian diesel, the level of support for President Volodymyr Zelensky among Ukrainians increased by more than 10%.

This is evidenced by the results of a survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).

Currently, 54% of Ukrainians trust President Zelensky, while 41% do not. Overall, these indicators have hardly changed over the past month.

At the same time, KIIS recorded a noticeable difference between the responses before and after the so-called diesel deal and further US pressure on Ukraine. Thus, on October 8–9, 43% of respondents trusted Zelensky, while 52% did not.

On the other hand, on October 10–16, the level of trust increased to 57%, and distrust decreased to 39%.

KIIS believes that this may be the effect of "rallying around the flag" — when, due to external pressure, society consolidates more around the countryʼs leadership. Sociologists note that they have previously also seen certain fluctuations in trust on different days of the survey, but this time the difference is significantly greater.

Among all respondents, 22% said they completely trust Zelensky, another 32% said they rather trust him. At the same time, 24% did not trust him at all, and 17% answered that they rather did not trust him.

KIIS also suggests that if it werenʼt for the US-Russia diesel deal and continued US pressure on Ukraine, Zelenskyʼs level of trust could have fallen below 50% for the first time. At the same time, sociologists emphasize that it is still unclear how strong and long-lasting the current growth in support will be.

• The survey was conducted through telephone interviews among 1 031 adult citizens of Ukraine in government-controlled territory.

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