Nearly 60% of Ukrainians see Zelensky as responsible for his associate's role in major corruption scandal, poll shows
A total of 59% of Ukrainians believe President Volodymyr Zelensky is personally responsible for the actions of Timur Mindich, his associate and former business partner, who is at the center of Ukraine's biggest corruption scandal, according to a poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) published on Dec. 18.
Another 30% disagree, and 11% are undecided, the poll showed.
Mindich is being investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) in a corruption case involving state nuclear power monopoly Energoatom, the biggest corruption investigation during Zelensky's presidency.
Mindich, who co-owned Kvartal 95 production company, fled Ukraine before being charged. In November, Zelensky imposed sanctions on Mindich and Oleksandr Tsukerman, another implicated businessman. Both were placed on a wanted list.
According to the KIIS survey, 77% of Ukrainians know about the investigation.
When asked by the Kyiv Independent last week what lesson he had learned from the corruption scandal, the president shifted the responsibility onto Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.
"I asked (Svyrydenko) to reset all energy companies and institutions in Ukraine to eliminate such risks in the future. She is doing this within her authority," Zelensky said.
The corruption scandal was overshadowed by the emergence of a U.S.-backed peace plan, which attempted to push Kyiv toward capitulation in late November. Kyiv is now discussing the plan with Washington, attempting to finalize a version that would safeguard Ukraine's interests.
The scandal reemerged after the Anti-Corruption Bureau conducted searches at Andriy Yermak's premises, then-head of the President's Office. His dismissal on Nov. 28, after years of holding unprecedented influence within government, eased public and political tensions.
Another recent survey showed that around 61% of Ukrainians trust Zelensky as of mid-December, a slight increase from early October. Some 32% do not trust the president.
Anton Hrushetskyi, head of KIIS, said that after the corruption scandal, trust in Zelensky likely dropped by around 10%. However, following Yermak's dismissal and growing pressure from the U.S., trust has now been restored.
Around 67% of respondents believe that the level of corruption in Ukraine has increased since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, while 19% think it has remained unchanged.
The latest poll was conducted between Nov. 26 and Dec. 13 and was based on responses from 1,000 respondents living in Ukraine-held territories.
