Over 85% of Ukrainians support democracy even during war: poll

The vast majority of Ukrainians believe that the country should remain a democracy even during war. At the same time, over 80% of those surveyed do not feel they can influence state decisions and speak of a gap between the government and society.

This is evidenced by the results of a study by the Active Group company, conducted jointly with the Politarena publication using the online panel SunFlower Sociology.

85.6% of respondents support preserving the democratic system during the war. Of these, 57.3% answered “definitely yes”, another 28.2% – “probably yes”. 4.2% of those surveyed are against it.

At the same time, 82.9% of Ukrainians said that they do not feel that their vote has any influence on the state’s decisions. Only 12.9% believe that they can fully or partially influence the actions of the authorities.

Another 84.2% of respondents agreed with the statement that the state and society actually live separate lives.

In addition, 85.3% of respondents see a systemic crisis of public administration in Ukraine. At the same time, 68.9% believe that the system can be reformed already during the war, without waiting for its end.

Ukrainians named corruption as the main symptom of the management crisis – this was the answer of 35.4% of respondents. This is followed by the lack of responsibility for failures – 28.2% and problems with legislation – 23%.

Among the factors that most destroy trust between the state and citizens, 82.9% named corruption scandals. The work of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine and mobilization were mentioned by 71.1%, personnel changes in power – by 58.9%, and the unfair distribution of the burden of war – by 54.9%.

At the same time, 91.5% of respondents fully or partially support public coverage of corruption cases against government officials even during war.

There have also been changes in attitudes towards elections. 43.3% of respondents consider holding elections during martial law to be appropriate, while 50.6% are against it. For comparison, in August 2023, only 15.7% supported elections during wartime.

Among the government bodies that Ukrainians would like to re-elect in the near future, the Verkhovna Rada is in first place – 71.1% support its re-election. 55.5% of respondents are in favor of re-election of the president.

In the presidential rating among all respondents, Volodymyr Zelensky took first place with 16.7%. He is followed by Valeriy Zaluzhny – 11.6%, Mykhailo Fedorov – 8.6%, and Petro Poroshenko – 8.3%.

At the same time, the simulation of the second round showed a different picture. Among those who have decided on a choice, Zelensky is inferior to Fedorov – 36.8% against 63.2%, and also to Zaluzhny – 40.1% against 59.9%. In the pair Zaluzhny – Fedorov, the result is 53% against 47% in favor of Zaluzhny.

The survey was conducted on August 22, 2026 among 2,000 adult citizens of Ukraine, excluding residents of temporarily occupied territories. The theoretical margin of error does not exceed 2.2%.