Ex-army commander Zaluzhnyi's rating falls by 9%, poll shows

The electoral rating of Valerii Zaluzhnyi, former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, fell by 9% from July 2025 to June 2026, according to a survey published by the polling agency Rating Group on July 1.

President Volodymyr Zelensky would get 32% out of all respondents if a presidential election were held now, while Zaluzhnyi, who is currently Ukraine's ambassador to the U.K., would be the runner-up with 16%. Zelensky's Chief of Staff Kyrylo Budanov would come third with 11%, according to the survey.

In July 2025, Zelensky, Zaluzhnyi, and Budanov would have received 31%, 25%, and 5% in the first round, respectively.

In a second round between Zelensky and Zaluzhnyi, the president would win with 42%, and Zaluzhnyi would get 39%, according to Rating Group.

No information was provided on a potential run-off between Zelensky and Budanov.

According to several previous opinion polls, both Zaluzhnyi and Budanov would have beaten Zelensky in the second round.

In a potential parliamentary election, Zaluzhnyi’s potential party would win with 18%, while a hypothetical “Zelensky Bloc” would get 16%, and Budanov’s potential party would come third with 12%. The nationalist Azov party and ex-President Petro Poroshenko’s European Solidarity would get 8% each.

Zaluzhnyi and Budanov have not yet created their own parties, and the Zelensky Bloc is the hypothetical name of a party that could replace the president’s unpopular Servant of the People. According to a Socis poll released in March, only 11.5% would vote for the Servant of the People.