Citizens’ approval of Ukraine’s course outlined by President Volodymyr Zelensky has fallen from 98 per cent at the start of the war in February 2022 to 60 per cent at present, according to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, citing the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.
The survey, dated December 19, stated that Zelensky’s approval rating in December 2023 was 77 percent, while in May 2022, 90 per cent of Ukrainians polled said they trusted the president.
The newspaper assumes that the drop in the Ukrainian president’s reputation may be related to the failure of the 2023 counter-offensive, on which the country’s population pinned high hopes. The newspaper also notes disagreements in the military leadership, including with the army commander-in-chief, Valery Zaluzhny.
The head of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, Volodymyr Paniotto, noted that the drop in approval ratings is a normal phenomenon following the decline of the initial wave of patriotism.
The effect of rallying around the flag is running out.
According to executive director Anton Grushetsky, trust in the government and parliament has fallen from 74 per cent in 2022 to 39 per cent and from 58 per cent to 21 per cent respectively. Grushetsky attributes the trust decline to corruption scandals and frustration over insufficient Western aid.
