SerpApi.Org
Former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov’s approval rating has soared from 35% to 65% over the past week, surpassing that of President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to an opinion poll published by Rating Group on July 22.
The poll was conducted on July 20-21.
Fedorov, who was widely seen as highly effective, was fired as defense minister amid a Cabinet reshuffle on July 16. Since then, thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets daily nationwide to protest against his dismissal.
According to the poll, 72% of the respondents did not support Fedorov’s dismissal, 5% backed it, and 17% said they were indifferent.
Fedorov is the runner-up in terms of approval ratings, while former Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi tops the list with 70%, and the approval rating of Zelensky’s Chief of Staff Kyrylo Budanov stands at 62%.
Zelensky ranks fourth with an approval rating of 59%, while 54% of the respondents approve of heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk, and ex-President Petro Poroshenko’s approval rating is 21%.
The approval rating of former Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi has fallen from 39% to 23% over the past week.
Thousands of protesters had demanded Syrskyi's dismissal over the past week amid his conflict with Fedorov. He was eventually fired by Zelensky late on July 21 and replaced with Mykhailo Drapatyi.
Syrskyi’s dismissal was supported by 55%, while 15% were against it, and 19% said they were indifferent.
Out of all the respondents, 22.3% said they would vote for Zelensky in the first round of a future presidential election, 14.9% would vote for Zaluzhnyi, and 13.4% would choose Fedorov.
Budanov’s electoral rating is 7.2%, while 5.9% would vote for Usyk, and 4.6% would support Poroshenko.
No information was available on a potential second round.
According to several previous opinion polls, both Zaluzhnyi and Budanov would have beaten Zelensky in the second round. In other polls, Zelensky would win in the run-off.
Read also: Ex-army commander Zaluzhnyi’s rating falls by 9%, Zelensky’s rating remains stable, poll suggests
