Unpublished poll: Zelensky leads hypothetical Ukrainian presidential race, ousted minister Fedorov third
An unpublished poll seen by The Economist puts President Volodymyr Zelensky in the lead for a hypothetical Ukrainian presidential election, with recently dismissed defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov placing third. Former armed forces commander Valerii Zaluzhnyi came in second.
The British magazine The Economist says it has seen the results of an unpublished poll on a hypothetical presidential election in Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky led the poll with 21% support. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the former commander in chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces and now Ukraine's ambassador to the United Kingdom, placed second with 18%. Recently dismissed defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov came in third with 16%, while Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's presidential office, was fourth with 8%.
The magazine noted the poll was conducted before Fedorov's video address calling for elections in Ukraine, and it did not disclose the exact wording of the poll question.
Zaluzhnyi has long been regarded as one of Zelensky's most serious potential rivals in any future presidential vote. According to the Ukrainian outlet Ukrainska Pravda, he has said he intends to run. The same outlet previously reported results of a private poll from June, which found that among decided voters in a first round, about 33% would back Zelensky, about 22% Zaluzhnyi, and nearly 14% Budanov. Fedorov, still defense minister at the time, was not included in that survey.
Zelensky dismissed Fedorov in July, reportedly following a conflict with Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander in chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces. His removal triggered protests in several Ukrainian cities demanding his reinstatement.
On August 18, Fedorov delivered a video address calling for a "legal, safe, and realistic mechanism" to allow Ukraine to "resume a fully functioning democratic process even amid an ongoing war." Zelensky's office responded that planning elections amid drone and missile attacks is "extremely strange" and that Fedorov's appeal "demonstrates a complete lack of realism."
