53% of Ukrainians oppose Zelenskyy second term, while 71% reject wartime elections - poll

The survey, conducted Sept. 12–21, found that 53% of respondents believe Zelenskyy should limit himself to his current term, up from 46% in December 2025. Another 42% said he should run in the next presidential election, down from 45%, while 5% were undecided.

At the same time, 71% said elections should not be held while the war continues, compared with 24% who said they should take place now. Another 4% were undecided.

The results suggest growing demand for political change after the war rather than support for holding an election during it.

Even among respondents who said they did not trust Zelenskyy at all, only 53% supported holding elections now. Among those who said they tended not to trust him, 58% opposed wartime elections.

Support for Zelenskyy running again was closely tied to trust in the president. Among respondents who said they fully trusted him, 85% supported another candidacy. That fell to 53% among those who tended to trust him, 20% among those who tended not to trust him and 7% among those who did not trust him at all.

Zelenskyy said during his successful 2019 presidential campaign that he intended to serve only one term. The KIIS questionnaire explicitly reminded respondents of that pledge before asking whether he should run again.

The poll also points to broader dissatisfaction with Ukraine's current political leadership. Asked to choose up to three emotions they associated with the authorities, 44% named disappointment, up from 36% in December 2025, while 33% chose shame, up from 20%. Hope remained unchanged at 23%, while 20% selected anger, up from 14%.

KIIS Executive Director Anton Hrushetskyi said the findings reflected a growing demand for political renewal that Ukrainians largely expect to take place after the war. Earlier KIIS polling found that 67% expected the presidency to be renewed after the war, while 83% expected changes in parliament and 74% in the government.

KIIS surveyed 1,002 Ukrainian adults by telephone on Sept. 12–21. The sample included people living in Ukrainian government-controlled territory, including internally displaced people, but excluded residents of Russian-occupied territories and Ukrainians who left the country after Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The formal margin of error was no more than 4.1 percentage points for results close to 50%. KIIS noted that wartime conditions may introduce additional systematic bias but said the findings remain broadly representative of public opinion among the population covered by the survey.