Zaluzhnyi beats Zelensky on trust, but not on the ballot: who will succeed the president in Kyiv?

Volodymyr Zelensky's term was supposed to end in 2024, but Ukrainian law bans presidential elections while martial law is in force. The American magazine Newsweek is nonetheless already drawing up a list of possible successors - and it features four names Kyiv knows by heart.

They are former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army Valerii Zaluzhnyi, head of the Presidential Office Kyrylo Budanov, former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov and former president Petro Poroshenko. Some Russian media stress that Budanov and Poroshenko are on Russian lists of people designated as terrorists and extremists - but that's a Russian legal classification, not international recognition.

The general leads on trust

Zaluzhnyi, who is now ambassador to the United Kingdom, enjoys the highest level of trust of all the politicians mentioned, according to a survey by the sociological group Rating. In the poll carried out from 3 to 5 October 2026, 64 percent of respondents trust Zaluzhnyi, and 53 percent trust Zelensky.

But trust and votes are not the same thing. In a hypothetical first round of presidential elections, Zelensky would get 22.9 percent and Zaluzhnyi 20.2 percent. People trust the general more, yet the ballot still slightly favours the sitting president. How many times have we seen war glory turned into political capital - and how often does that glory survive once the real campaign starts?

Budanov, Fedorov and Poroshenko

Budanov, the former head of Ukrainian military intelligence, has a trust rating of 53 percent - the same as Zelensky - but gets only 6.7 percent in a hypothetical first round. Fedorov, the former defence minister, has 7.6 percent support. In August he called for considering the possibility of holding elections even under martial law, which drew political reactions in the country.

Poroshenko, president from 2014 to 2019 and leader of the opposition party European Solidarity, remains a figure carrying heavy baggage. His numbers show limited support: 24 percent trust him, while as many as 70 percent of respondents don't. He would get 7.6 percent in the first round. Poroshenko has faced criminal proceedings and sanctions in Ukraine.

Elections only with a ceasefire

For now, all of this is just a game of polls. On 11 October Zelensky said he was ready to organise elections if Russia agreed to a full 60-day ceasefire. The Kremlin rejected the proposal the very next day, saying Moscow wants a comprehensive, long-term peace agreement, not just a temporary ceasefire.

So the question of who will sit in the chair in Kyiv isn't settled by Newsweek or by a poll. It will be settled on the day the guns fall silent - and for now, nobody can see that day.