Large Majority of Ukrainians Think Zelensky Responsible for Corruption

Some 77 percent of polled Ukrainians believe that the President Zelensky is directly responsible for corruption in the government and military administrations, according to a new poll conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation (DIF) and reported by Interfax.

While not believing he is directly involved in corruption schemes, those polled said delays in addressing those who are means the president’s office shoulders the blame for a lack of action.

"Procrastination in solving problems that undermine people's faith in victory will also hit the president himself,” DIF Executive Director Petro Burkovsky said in a statement.

He added: “The widespread argument that the authorities do not have time does not work after 16 months of war.”

According to the poll, 72.9% of Ukrainians also support the discharge of wounded soldiers from the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the payment of all due compensation for treatment and rehabilitation, and 46.3% support the transfer at will to positions in the military enlistment offices instead of current employees. 

The national survey "Socio-political moods of the population of Ukraine" was conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in July 2023 by order of the Democratic Initiatives Foundation. 

The survey used the method of personal interviews using a tablet. Donetsk and Lugansk regions were immediately excluded from the sample due to security issues. Kherson region was initially included in the calculations. 

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However, due to security issues, the task for Kherson region was implemented in neighboring Mykolaiv region. 

In total, within the framework of the study, 2,011 interviews were taken from respondents living in 135 settlements of Ukraine. Under normal circumstances, the statistical error of the sample does not exceed 3.3%.