Budanov's rating doubled in a year

Incumbent President Volodymyr Zelenskyy retains his lead in the presidential rating, while the support of the head of the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense, Kyrylo Budanov, has more than doubled in the past year.

This is evidenced by the results of a survey by the sociological group Rating.

If the presidential elections were held next Sunday, 32% of Ukrainians would vote for Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The second place is occupied by the former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, with 16% of support, and the third is Kyrylo Budanov, whom 11% of respondents are ready to support.

At the same time, Budanov's rating more than doubled in a year: from 5% in July 2025 to 11% in June 2026.

In contrast, Valerii Zaluzhnyi's support for the same period decreased by 9 percentage points - from 25% to 16%. Volodymyr Zelenskyy's rating has almost not changed: last year he was supported by 31% of respondents, now - 32%.

Sociologists also simulated a possible second round of the presidential election between Zelenskyy and Zaluzhnyi. In this case, the incumbent president would receive 42% of the vote, and Valerii Zaluzhnyi - 39%. Another 10% of respondents said that they would not participate in the vote, and 9% were undecided.

In addition, the survey participants were asked about possible parliamentary elections. The most support among the conditional political forces was received by the Party of Zaluzhnyi - 18%, Bloc of Zelenskyy - 16% and Party of Budanov - 12%.

The survey was conducted by the sociological group Rating using telephone interviews from May 30 to June 3, 2026. 2,404 adult residents of Ukraine, excluding temporarily occupied territories, took part in it. The stated error of the study does not exceed 2%.

Recall that Zaluzhnyi's rating fell by 9% over the year, Zelenskyy retained his leadership in the presidential poll.