Ukraine’s current head of state would lose a hypothetical second-round vote against his chief of staff, his ambassador to Britain, or his former defense minister, a poll published by Ukraine's Center for Sociological Research Socis showed.
The starkest gap was with Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine's ambassador to London and former commander-in-chief of its armed forces, who would beat Zelensky 66.2 percent to 33.8 percent in a runoff.
Presidential chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov, a former head of military intelligence agency HUR, would win 60.3 percent% to 39.7 percent.
Former defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov would also prevail, by 63.8 percent to 36.2 percent.
The picture looks different in a first-round scenario, where Zelensky would narrowly lead the field with 22.3 percent support among decided voters, ahead of Zaluzhnyi on 21.4 percent and Fedorov in third place with 13.1 percent.
Ukraine has not held elections since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, when martial law was imposed nationwide.
Parliamentary and presidential votes, constitutionally due in 2023 and 2024 respectively, have been postponed.
Ukrainian law prohibits elections until 90 days after martial law is lifted, and the war has made voting logistically impossible in any case.
Asked when a vote should take place, 60 percent of respondents said elections should follow immediately once a ceasefire and the end of martial law are announced, while over 25 percent said officials should wait before proceeding.
Socis polled 2,000 people in government-controlled territory in late July and early August.
Residents of occupied Crimea, the Russian-held parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, and areas of active combat were excluded from the survey.
(jh/gs)
Source: PAP