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The Kyiv Independent’s contributor Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke spent a day with a mobile team from the State Emergency Service in Nikopol in the south of Ukraine as they responded to relentless drone, artillery, and mortar strikes from Russian forces just across the Dnipro River. Nikopol is located across from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar.

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69% of Ukrainians have trust in President Zelensky, poll finds

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69% of Ukrainians have trust in President Zelensky, poll finds
President Volodymyr Zelensky attends the 50th European House Ambrosetti (TEHA) Forum in Italy on Sept. 6, 2024. (Alessandro Bremec/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Some 69% of Ukrainians trust President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to a poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology published on March 27.

The results counter claims by tech billionaire Elon Musk, a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, who wrote on X on March 6 that Zelensky would "lose by a landslide" if Ukraine held an election.

The survey found that only 28% of respondents do not trust Zelensky, resulting in a trust-distrust balance of +41%. Conducted from March 12 to 22, the poll interviewed 1,326 adults in government-controlled territories.

The poll indicates that trust in Zelensky remains relatively stable, with no significant change from a previous survey conducted from Feb. 14 to March 4.

A prior poll published on March 7 showed that Zelensky's approval rating had risen to 68% following his tense Feb. 28 meeting with Trump at the White House, which ended in a public dispute over security guarantees and the cancellation of a minerals agreement.

Trump has also labeled Zelensky a "dictator without elections," blaming him for prolonging the war. However, Ukraine's constitution prohibits elections under martial law, which has been in effect since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

Legal experts say Zelensky's term extension is permitted under Ukrainian law.

A February survey before the clash with Trump put Zelensky's trust level at 57%, with a trust-distrust balance of +20%.

We asked Ukrainian soldiers if they’d fight Russia ‘with their bare hands’ rather than accept a bad ceasefire
CIA Director John Ratcliffe on March 25 gave a rousing assessment of Kyiv’s desire to achieve an acceptable and lasting peace in Ukraine, insisting its people and armed forces would fight Russia with “their bare hands” if they had to. “I want to say that with regard to the Ukrainian
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Tim Zadorozhnyy

News Editor

Tim Zadorozhnyy is a news editor at The Kyiv Independent. Based in Warsaw, he is pursuing studies in International Relations, focusing on European Studies. Tim began his career at a local television channel in Odesa. After moving to Warsaw, he joined the Belarusian opposition media outlet NEXTA, starting as a news anchor and later advancing to the position of managing editor.

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