KIIS poll: majority of Ukrainians oppose wartime elections and Zelensky running again

Why it matters

The poll captures public attitudes on two of the most politically charged questions in wartime Ukraine: whether to hold elections at all while fighting continues, and whether Zelensky should be allowed a second term. Support for restricting Zelensky to a single term has grown by 7 percentage points in nine months, and negative emotions such as disappointment, shame, and anger toward the authorities have all risen. The findings sit against a backdrop of repeated US pressure for elections and an unresolved debate inside Ukraine about the legitimacy and feasibility of a wartime vote.

What happened

The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) conducted a nationwide telephone poll between 12 and 21 September 2026, surveying 1,002 Ukrainians aged 18 and over in government-controlled territory. The poll excluded residents of territories temporarily not controlled by Ukraine and citizens who left the country after 24 February 2022. KIIS published the results in early October.

On whether Zelensky should run for a second term, 53% of respondents said he should limit himself to his current term, up from 46% in December 2025. Forty-two percent said he should participate in the next election, down from 45% in the previous survey, and 5% were undecided. The breakdown by trust in Zelensky was stark: 85% of those who fully trust him supported his re-election, falling to 53% among those who somewhat trust him, 20% among those who somewhat distrust him, and 7% among those who completely distrust him.

On holding elections during the war, 71% of respondents were opposed, 24% insisted on holding them now, and 4% were undecided. Support for holding elections was again correlated with distrust of Zelensky: 98% of those who fully trust him opposed a wartime vote, while 53% of those who completely distrust him wanted one. The theoretical margin of error was 4.1% for indicators near 50%; KIIS noted additional systematic deviation under wartime conditions but said the results remained highly representative.

The poll also asked about emotions toward the current authorities. Disappointment was the most common at 44% (up from 36% in December 2025), followed by shame at 33% (up from 20%), hope at 23% (unchanged), anger at 20% (up from 14%), compassion at 16% (unchanged), hatred at 14% (up from 11%), indifference at 12% (up from 7%), and pride at 7% (unchanged). Forty-five percent of respondents said affairs in Ukraine were going in the wrong direction, compared with 40% who said the right direction and 15% who were undecided.

How Ukrainian sources describe it

Ukrainian-language coverage of the KIIS poll was broad and consistent across multiple outlets, including LIGA.net, hromadske, NV, Ukrinform, Radio Svoboda, Novinarnia, and Babel. Most headlines emphasized the 53% figure backing a one-term limit for Zelensky, framing the poll as evidence of a clear and internally consistent public verdict against his re-election. Outlets gave substantial prominence to the 71% opposition to wartime elections and to the cross-breakdown by trust in Zelensky, and several contextualized the findings within ongoing US pressure for elections and within statements by Zelensky and political figures such as former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. One Ukrainian headline diverged from this dominant framing by emphasizing the roughly 42% backing a Zelensky run.

Where reporting differs

One outlet's headline framed Zelensky as having majority support to run for a second term, while other reporting and the underlying figures show that 53% — a majority — believe he should limit himself to one term. Two articles also differ slightly in how they pair the cross-breakdown figures: both report that 58% of those who somewhat distrust Zelensky oppose wartime elections and that 53% of those who completely distrust him insist on elections now, but they place these figures differently in relation to other subgroups. One article also reported the share of undecided respondents on whether Zelensky should run again as 4%, while other reporting gives the figure as 5%.

Background

Martial law has been in force in Ukraine since 24 February 2022, and Ukrainian law does not provide for holding elections during martial law. As of April 2026, Zelensky had been in office for seven years, against a constitutional five-year term limit. In December 2025, Zelensky said he was politically ready to hold presidential elections but stressed that voter safety must be guaranteed; in August 2026 he said wartime elections would be a "tsunami" that would split Ukraine. The United States, including President Donald Trump, has raised the issue of elections in Ukraine repeatedly. Former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called in August 2026 for elections to be held during the war. The KIIS poll was carried out as part of its standing "Omnibus" survey, with additional questions commissioned by the NGO "Forum".