Volodimir Zelenski won the presidency with a resounding 73% of the vote against former president Petro Poroshenko, a mandate that went undisputed across Ukraine. Initially, his political footing felt uncertain, but the full-scale Russian invasion fundamentally reshaped his profile. The former actor and comedian traded his business suits for military olive drab, transforming into an enduring symbol of resistance against a nuclear-armed aggressor. Since February 2022, that defiant image has weathered the physical and political toll of prolonged conflict, yet public trust in his leadership has faced severe friction.
These figures place public confidence just two points above the wartime low of 52% registered in December 2024, sliding significantly from the 90% peak recorded in the spring of 2022 when Zelenski chose to remain in Kyiv as Russian armor approached the capital. His popularity has tracked a volatile trajectory, dipping amid battlefield setbacks throughout 2024 before surging to 74% in May 2025 following a tense confrontation with Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Subsequent declines followed domestic controversies, including corruption scandals within his inner circle and the dismissal last summer of Defense Minister Mijailo Fedorov, a figure widely credited with scaling up Ukraine's drone warfare capabilities.
Political Intransigence and the Reality of Martial Law
Critics within Ukraine frequently take aim at Zelenski’s hardline stance toward political rivals. General Valery Zaluzhny, who commanded the army during the critical opening months of the invasion, was reassigned as ambassador to the United Kingdom, a move widely viewed as sidelining a potential challenger. Similarly, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klichkó has experienced a freeze in direct communication with the administration, Petro Poroshenko faces official sanctions, and Fedorov was dismissed when leadership perceived him as a rising political threat.
Despite these concentrated moves to consolidate authority, Zelenski operates under the constitutional framework of martial law, which legally bars national elections during wartime—a stark reality recognized by the vast majority of Ukrainians who view voting under active bombardment and mass displacement as impossible. Last Sunday, Donald Trump publicly asserted that Zelenski should be replaced, remarks that ultimately backfired by boosting the Ukrainian leader’s domestic standing. Ukrainians demonstrate fierce independence regarding their leadership, resisting external dictates whether originating from Moscow or Washington.
“Nadie aquí va a apoyar a Trump y su idea de cambiar a Zelenski,” said Olga Tarnovska, a translator living in Ukraine. “A nosotros Zelenski nos puede gustar o no gustar, pero es nuestro presidente en plena guerra y vamos a apoyarle. Hay políticos que pueden intentar jugar con el cansancio de la gente para rechazar a Zelenski y pedir elecciones, pero eso no va a funcionar con Putin.”
Tensions with Washington and the Post-War Horizon
Washington’s stance toward Kyiv under Donald Trump has consistently lacked neutrality, marked by public praise for Vladimir Putin juxtaposed with sharp criticism of Zelenski. The underlying friction stems back to a July 2019 phone call in which Trump pressed the newly elected Ukrainian leader to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter while withholding approximately $400 million in military aid, an episode that triggered Trump’s first impeachment. Recriminations deepened further in September 2024 when Zelenski toured a munitions plant in Pennsylvania alongside a Democratic governor during the U.S. presidential campaign, culminating in an acrimonious exchange in the Oval Office in February 2025.
Yet local analysts emphasize that external pressure to force a leadership change fundamentally misjudges the domestic political landscape. KIIS internal polling indicates that 62% of Ukrainians remain prepared to endure the war for as long as necessary, while 79% express confidence that Ukraine will ultimately defeat the Russian invasion.
“Se trata de mantener la soberanía sobre nuestras propias decisiones,” noted Valeri Petrenko, a Ukrainian language teacher in Lviv. “Ucrania está en guerra para mantener su libertad frente al imperialismo ruso. Ni consentimos que Putin cambie al presidente ni lo vamos a consentir que lo haga Trump. Sólo lo haremos nosotros cuando podamos hacerlo.”
For residents across front-line and targeted cities such as Kyiv, Járkiv, and Dnipro, nightly missile and drone bombardments underscore the immediate stakes of survival. Citizens view proposed peace frameworks advanced without Kyiv’s participation with deep skepticism, convinced that foreign negotiations prioritize the personal business interests of the U.S. president and his negotiating team—Witkoff and Kushner—over their own lives.
