Ukrainian Poll: Zaluzhny and Fyodorov Most Trusted Politicians

MOSCOW, July 22. /TASS/. Former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army and now Ukraine's ambassador to the United Kingdom Valery Zaluzhny and former Defense Minister Mikhail Fyodorov are the most trusted politicians in Ukraine, according to a new poll by the Rating Sociological Group.

According to the survey, Zaluzhny enjoyed the highest level of public trust, with 70% of respondents expressing confidence in him, followed by Fyodorov at 65%. Trust in the former defense minister almost doubled over the past week, rising from 35% to 65%. Head of Vladimir Zelensky's office Kirill Budanov (designated as a terrorist and extremist by Russia) also enjoyed a high level of public trust. Zelensky ranked fourth in the trust ratings at 59%.

Former Ukrainian armed forces commander-in-chief Alexander Syrsky, whom Zelensky dismissed yesterday, received one of the lowest trust ratings in the survey. Trust in Syrsky fell from 39% to 23% over the past week. Former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko (listed by Russia's Federal Financial Monitoring Service as a person involved in extremist activity or terrorism) received an even lower rating, with 21% of respondents expressing trust in him.

The survey was conducted on July 20-21 using computer-assisted telephone interviews and included 1,000 respondents aged 18 and older. The margin of error did not exceed 3.1%.

Budanov and Zaluzhny had previously been described as Zelensky's main potential rivals if presidential elections were held in Ukraine. According to public opinion polls, Zelensky had long trailed both of them in the trust ratings. Analysts believed Budanov's rating had further growth potential because society was lately rallying on his behalf.

However, following Fyodorov's resignation as defense minister and his growing political independence, as previously reported by the Strana news outlet, some political circles also began viewing him as a potential presidential candidate. According to Strana, Fedorov was backed by European institutions and the US Democratic Party, which had "openly promoted" him Ukraine's presidency. The UK's The Times, citing sources, also previously reported that Fedorov could run for president and had already begun his election campaign. That assessment was supported, among other things, by nearly a week of continuing protests in support of Fedorov, on which he had yet to comment.