Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is beneath intense force from the United States to take his nation to the polls as early as this spring. Donald Trump is not easy elections as a situation for American safety promises for Ukraine in opposition to any long run Russian invasion.
Zelensky has confronted power calls from Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and from time to time from Trump as properly, to carry an election. His time period expired in 2024, however the nation’s charter forbids elections all over wartime. In an effort to time table a ballot may even imply a constitutional exchange to allow it.
But when the United States president will get his method and elections are held later this yr, whoever wins and turns into Ukraine’s subsequent president might be confronted with the duty of managing a rustic at warfare and in all probability guidance the country against an unsure peace.
It’s onerous to are expecting who would possibly stand for the presidency – beneath the present instances, nobody is mentioning their candidacy. Nevertheless it’s cheap to suppose that Zelensky would put himself ahead for a 2nd time period. If this is the case, he can’t be anticipating to coast to victory as he did in 2019 when he received greater than 74% of the preferred vote.
Whilst Zelensky has been celebrated within the west as a hero for his wartime management, his reputation has been broken by means of a sequence of corruption scandals. In November 2025, a number of executive officers and industry leaders with shut connections to Zelensky – together with the justice minister and a former top minister – have been accused of stealing US$100 million (£73 million) from Ukraine’s power sector by means of Ukraine’s anti-corruption businesses.
Only a few months previous, in July, in style protests erupted in opposition to a brand new legislation that might position those self same anti-corruption businesses beneath the keep an eye on of an respectable appointed by means of Zelensky. This transfer was once extensively observed as an try to allow the president to forestall any inconvenient investigations of their tracks and defend his friends from prosecution.
Zelensky acted temporarily to distance himself from either one of those scandals. He reversed the debatable law in the summertime and has referred to as for the resignation of serving officers named within the power corruption investigation. However those occasions have tarnished his popularity at house.
In line with surveys performed by means of the Kyiv World Institute of Sociology, believe in Zelensky dropped from 74% in Would possibly 2025 to 59% in December. Even supposing incumbents in different nations would possibly glance with envy at those figures, simplest 26% “completely” believe him and want to see him proceed as president. The remaining indicated that they would like a metamorphosis on the most sensible of Ukraine’s political management. That stated, a contemporary ballot had his beef up at 30.9%, with just one different attainable candidate inside of touching distance.
That attainable candidate is Valerii Zaluzhnyi, whose is regularly described as a possible chief and whose beef up was once measured at 27.7% within the ballot discussed above. These days Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Zaluzhnyi owes his top profile to his former place as head of Ukraine’s military. He served in that position from 2021 till Zelensky changed him in February 2024.
The respectable explanation why Zelensky gave for the dismissal was once the desire for brand new concepts within the army, however there was once a suspicion that Zaluzhnyi, extensively thought to be a warfare hero for main the resistance to Russia’s mass invasion, was once changing into too common. Certainly, a ballot performed in July 2025 discovered that 73% of Ukrainians stated they relied on him, making him the rustic’s maximum relied on public determine. Zaluzhnyi has refused to be drawn on whether or not he would possibly stand for the presidency, however there may be in style hypothesis that he’s merely biding his time.
Every other conceivable candidate whose popularity was once constructed by means of his wartime management is Kyrylo Budanov. Lately appointed by means of Zelensky as his leader of personnel, Budanov led Ukraine’s army intelligence since 2020 and is credited with its efficient use of drones to strike goals deep into Russian territory in addition to Russian-occupied Ukraine. Like Zaluzhnyi, Budanov has now not indicated that he would stand for elected place of business. Not like Zaluzhnyi, Budanov has now not made a leap forward within the polls.
Veteran political competitors
A couple of veterans of previous presidential campaigns would possibly throw their hats into the hoop once more, even if neither might be a entrance runner.
Petro Poroshenko was once Ukraine’s president ahead of Zelensky, serving from 2014 till 2019. Since 2021 he has been preventing fees of treason and, extra just lately, has been positioned beneath sanction by means of Zelensky.
Fees in opposition to him center of attention on alleged pro-Russian political and financial pursuits, corresponding to his reference to the now-banned Celebration of the Areas and his slowness to dump his property in Russia and Russian-occupied Ukraine. He denies any wrongdoing and has referred to as the sanctions “politically motivated” and “unconstitutional”.
Petro Poroshenko on a 2019 election billboard in Lvov, Ukraine. Poroshenko is extensively observed as Russia’s selection if an election is held in 2026.
EPA/Pavlo Palamarchuk
Yulia Tymoshenko was once a number one determine in Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution. She is a former top minister, chief of the “Fatherhood” political birthday party and a populist flesh presser who has a powerful following amongst rural electorate, particularly older ladies.
However she has just lately been charged with providing bribes to lawmakers in what has been reported as an try to undermine the ruling Servant of the Other folks Celebration. She denies the fees. She is simplest polling within the unmarried digits.
Issues of a wartime election
You will need to understand that Moscow calls for contemporary elections in Ukraine as a situation of any peace deal. It’s not going that Russia expects a pro-Russian candidate to achieve success and take the rustic in a extra Russia-friendly route. However all the technique of retaining truthful elections in Ukraine anytime quickly is fraught with difficulties that would provide alternatives for Russia to milk.
As an example, the organisational problem of constructing correct electoral registers that come with the hundreds of thousands of displaced Ukrainians – a lot of them residing in a foreign country – would invite demanding situations to the equity of the election and the legitimacy of the consequences.
The political divisions that inevitably come to the outside all over election campaigns would offer best grounds for stirring up dissension and dissatisfaction – a well-established apply undertaken by means of the Russian safety services and products – and thereby undermining the team spirit of Ukrainian society.
So irrespective of who turns into Ukraine’s subsequent president, if the election is going forward within the coming months as Donald Trump is not easy, the winner in a broader sense is also Russia.
