President Volodymyr Zelensky’s approval rating in Ukraine remains near the record highs set shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country began in February 2022, new data from Gallup shows.
Respondents were surveyed in July and August and the data was released on Monday. A year and half after Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded, more than eight in 10 Ukrainians (81%) said they approve of their leader, Zelensky, the survey shows.
Zelensky is scheduled to come up for reelection next year. Prior to the war, Ukraine’s presidential elections were scheduled for March 2024, but the country’s constitution mandates that it cannot go ahead until any declaration of martial law is lifted, which is unlikely to happen in the near future.
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Martial law in Ukraine, which must be extended every 90 days, is next set to expire on November 15.
The latest Gallup result remains near to a record-high approval rating of 84 percent from September 2022, months into the war. The polling firm does not state how many people were polled, but said support for Zelensky remains strong “across all demographic groups, geographic regions and income groups.”
Zelensky told the BBC in June that presidential elections in Ukraine won’t be held while the war is still ongoing.
“According to [Ukrainian] legislation, elections must be held in peacetime when there are no hostilities,” the president said, when asked whether presidential elections would be held in 2024.
Newsweek has contacted Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry via email for comment.
In September, Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska suggested during an appearance on CBS’ Face the Nation that she isn’t sure if her husband will run for reelection.
“Well, you know, this was a very difficult question for me. You know, even when he ran for the first time, I didn’t fully endorse it,” Zelenska told moderator Margaret Brennan. “But if he runs again, if he runs for the second time, if he decided it is necessary, well, we have some experience, we’ve been there. It is not as scary as it was the first time.
“It will also depend whether our society would need him as a president; if he will feel that Ukrainian society will no longer wish him to be the president, he will probably not run,” she said. “But I will support him whatever decision he takes.”
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