Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Former defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov, head of the Office of the President Kyrylo Budanov, and Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom Valeriy Zaluzhnyi led the rating of the 'second choice' in possible presidential elections. Sociologists asked Ukrainians who they would vote for if their first-choice candidate did not participate in the election for certain reasons. The strongest support in such a scenario went to Fedorov, Budanov, and Zaluzhnyi.
The data come from the national survey "Barometer" for August 2026 year, conducted by the Center for Social and Marketing Research "SOCIS". In the "second choice" scenario, Fedorov received 14,4%, Budanov 13,6%, and Zaluzhny 12,9%. Next on the list are Dmitro Razumkov and President Volodymyr Zelensky, who each received 5,5% of the votes.
The rest of the "second choice" rating were other public figures. Ihor Terekhov received 4,7%, Andriy Biletsky 4,0%, Petro Poroshenko 3,3%, Oleksandr Usyk 3,0%. Next are Oleksii Honcharenko with 2,5%, Serhiy Prytula with 2,2%, Vitaliy Kim with 1,7%, Yulia Tymoshenko with 1,4%, and Yuriy Boyko with 1,1%. Another 6,2% of respondents named another or new candidate, 2,8% said they would not participate in the election, and 15,3% did not decide or refused to answer.
In a separate question, sociologists asked whom respondents would vote for in a presidential election if it were held soon. In the overall rating among all respondents, Zelensky (17,8%) and Zaluzhnyi (17,1%) lead. Next are Fedorov (10,5%) and Budanov (6,7%), followed by Petro Poroshenko (4,9%), Ihor Terekhov (4,1%), Dmitro Razumkov (3,4%), Yulia Tymoshenko (2,8%), and Oleksandr Usyk (2,5%).
Explain the conditions of the study.
The survey was conducted by face-to-face interviews using tablets (CAPI), and in total 2000 respondents were surveyed with quota stratified sampling. The sampling error is +/- 2,6%, and the average duration of one interview was 13 minutes. The fieldwork period was from 28 July to 2 August 2026 year.
The survey was not conducted in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, in the Luhansk region, in temporarily occupied territories, or in territories of active hostilities, notably in large parts of Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv regions. The sample is close to representative for the whole country in terms of age, gender, type of settlement, and regional distribution, with maximal account taken of internally displaced persons and citizens who left abroad.
They clarified the political plans of Fedorov.
Earlier Informator reported that after leaving the Ministry of Defense, Fedorov might prepare for elections, and the British publication The Times compared him with Zaluzhnyi in political potential. We also wrote that Fedorov, with his popularity, has "gnawed at" Zelensky, Zaluzhnyi, and the Azov movement’s ratings, which is why he is expected to face attacks from rivals.
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