Ukrainian Domestic — 2026-09-18

Poll Tracks Decline in Zelensky Trust Rating Amid Yermak Corruption Investigation

BLUFZelensky's trust floor held through the initial corruption probes, but the real stress test arrives when polling captures public reaction to Kravchenko's direct move against anti-corruption bodies.

A KIIS poll conducted August 21–September 10 found 54% of Ukrainians trust President Volodymyr Zelensky and 41% do not, a trust balance of +13 points, virtually unchanged from 55%/40% a month earlier 12345. Of the 54% who trust him, only 18% trust him "fully" while 36% trust him "somewhat," and the survey carried a margin of error not exceeding 4.1% 12. The survey's field phase began immediately after the NABU/SAPO "Forrest Gump" investigation that led to the dismissal of Presidential Office deputy head Iryna Mudra, and roughly half the interviews were conducted after September 4, following the "Carthage" probe into the Prosecutor General's Office 123. KIIS, which surveyed 1,003 adults by phone across government-controlled territory, noted the poll does not capture reaction to former Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko's September 14 attempt to move against NABU and SAPO 23. Trust ran highest among women, 18-29 year-olds, military personnel, and residents of central, northern, southern, and eastern regions, and lowest among men, those aged 45-59, and residents of western Ukraine and Kyiv 35.

Analysis
Ukrainians have so far absorbed the Mudra dismissal and Carthage probe without punishing Zelensky, but the KIIS field window closed before Kravchenko's September 14 move against NABU and SAPO, the sharper test of whether the president's office is seen as shielding allies rather than exposing them. KIIS's own director frames the risk as cumulative, eroding gradually across future surveys rather than in one drop, a dynamic the single source (KIIS's published results, republished without independent corroboration by Kyiv Independent, Ukrainska Pravda, Interfax-Ukraine, and Kyiv Post) cannot yet confirm. The stable trust balance may instead reflect wartime rally-around-the-flag durability rather than genuine insulation from corruption fatigue, meaning the next KIIS reading, not this one, will tell decision-makers whether the anti-corruption confrontation itself becomes the trust-defining event.

6 sources

Poll tracks Zelensky trust rating amid corruption investigation - Kyiv Independent
Poll gauges Zelenskyy's approval after anti-corruption investigations - Ukrainska Pravda
Zelenskyy's approval rating remains unchanged over past month – KIIS - Interfax-Ukraine
Trust in Zelensky Dips Slightly but Remains Strong at 58%, KIIS Poll Finds - Kyiv Post
Баланс довіри до Зеленського за місяць не змінився – КМІС - Interfax-Ukraine
Dynamics of trust in President V. Zelenskyy: results of a survey conducted on August 21-September 10, 2026 - Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS)