[Graph]. ESTRIN: And in the TV show, he plays an ordinary guy, a schoolteacher who has an outburst against corruption in Ukraine. (Ukrainian presidential press) Before Russia invaded his country, Volodymyr Zelensky had an approval rating within Ukraine of around 32 per cent. KELLY: NPR's Daniel Estrin, so glad you were here helping to tell this story. The translator was heard pausing and choking up while conveying Zelensky's words. Boryana Saragerova received a MA in Terrorism, Security & Society from Kings College London. It is beautiful even if my skating is not. He has excelled in the role of warrior-president and won the hearts of the people he was elected to serve. The biggest controversy, however, was his firing of prosecutor general Ruslan Ryaboshapka, favoured by Western countries because of his anti-corruption efforts and drive for reform. A former actor used to the sound of applause, Mr. Zelensky is notoriously thin-skinned when it comes to criticism and challenging questions. If the EU could speak, what would it say? Thanks to an unprecedented effort from the International Republican Institute to conduct a nationwide poll of Ukraine during a time of war, we now know what its people think about the conflict, their leadership and the future of their country. his domestic approval ratings were tanked . We are here. August 11, 2022. So we're going to see if we can find some. "Ugh a sign at a construction site in downtown Ottawa," reads the tweet's caption. Email. 2000 - Graduated from Kyiv National Economic University, with a law degree. He appointed the head of his own television production studio to be the head of the Ukrainian version of the FBI. He says you can hear people criticizing the president in the streets, you know, even sometimes in the skating rink. But in times of national emergency, true leaders rise to the occasion. DNIPRO, Ukraine When Volodymyr Zelensky, the Jewish comedian recently elected the president of Ukraine, announced that he was running, the chief rabbi for the eastern Ukrainian region where Mr . More than 90 per cent of Ukrainians approve of their leader, compared with just 31 per cent before the Russian invasion. The front door is - I don't know - 20, 25 feet from this ice skating rink, which is now filling up with kids. More than half of Americans have confidence in Macron and Scholz, while ratings for the Chinese leader remain unchanged from the past year at 15%. The newly formed government, meanwhile, restored anti-corruption institutions. Along the way, he married a high school classmate, with whom he has two children, a 17-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old son. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. "Full support and respect . Amid the crisis with Russia, some Ukrainians say their president has come up short. He's 42. The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Then you can access your favorite statistics via the star in the header. He later batted down an evacuation offer from the United States. President Volodymyr Zelenskys ambitions of achieving radical change in Ukraine seem to be overshadowed by his attempt to balance different interest groups in the country, in the face of socioeconomic uncertainty and a distrustful nation. Yes, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Did Voice Paddington, StudioCanal Confirms. . Zelensky declined to debate Poroshenko until two days before the second round of polling would begin, and that meeting had all the trappings of a sporting event. Russia's goal, he says, is to weaken Ukraine's leadership. ESTRIN: He made a lot of promises that people really wanted to hear. I'm about to lace up skates, and we'll tell you why. 1 target,, Over the course of a few years, Zelensky who is the first-ever Jewish president of, Ukraine, a country with a long and complicated Jewish history. Details: For the survey, Pew asked 3,581 U.S. adults from March 21 to 27 about their confidence level in world leaders. Kliment Ohridski. Distribution and use of this material are governed by But now the threat is total: Up to 190,000 Russian troops have amassed near Ukraines borders and in separatist regions, and an invasion, bringing devastation and disaster, could come at any time. Your conscience has been heard, and its been heard loudly, he said. Of note: Putin not only has the lowest recorded rating on the survey, he has "an all-time low in surveys going back nearly two decades," per Pew. In March 2020, when his chief of staffs brother was caught offering government posts for money, Mr. Zelensky did nothing. Currently, you are using a shared account. Get full access to all features within our Business Solutions. So did Leon Blum, who faced antisemitic animus in. First, President Volodymyr Zelensky commands a 94% approval rating. Russia's goal, he says, is. Chart. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has seen his approval rating skyrocket amid the invasion from Russia. His approval rating, despite starting at a high of 55 percent in January 2021, spent the year in freefall. Scandals and tolerance for corruption have chipped away at Mr. Zelenskys popularity. I mean, it's like his popularity ratings went off the cliff. In the summer, it's a playground. His ratings had slumped after he arrived in office in mid-2019, and by December 2021 they sat at just 30 . March 17, 2022. Zelinsky initially made his name in Ukraine as a comic actor portraying on television a teacher who inadvertently becomes president after railing against corruption. And his party - get this - is called Servant of the People. A Jew and a native Russian speaker, Volodymyr Oleksandrovich Zelensky was born on January 25th, 1978. The current war is not Zelenskys first experience as the center of international attention not long after being elected, he found himself ensnared, Russian Vladimir Putin suggesting that he is a Nazi, in former President Donald Trumps first impeachment scandal, Feds arrest Michigan man who plotted to kill Jewish elected officials in the state, American citizen killed in latest West Bank shooting amid escalating violence. The roots of Russia's invasion of Ukraine go back decades and run deep. The ideal entry-level account for individual users. On March 31, 2019, Zelensky won over 30 percent of the vote in the first round of the presidential election, and Poroshenko finished a distant second with 16 percent. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Show publisher information The survey also took Americans' temperatures on other world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. So KELLY: I ask his thoughts about Zelenskyy, and Max says he likes him. KELLY: So we keep talking about Zelenskyy. The words he uses dont matter, as long as they are entertaining. Illustration by Joo Fazenda. Zelensky, falling short of providing Ukraine with the vigorous reformist policy he promised in his presidential campaign, has been gradually losing support from the public, threatening his and his partys future in Ukrainian politics. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to the U.S. Congress on March 16. The United States War Against Russian Disinformation: Is the GEC Fit for Purpose? So he says right now, a lot of critics of Zelenskyy are saying with Russian troops at the borders, it's not the right time to call for Zelenskyy to resign. Furthermore, questions about his Jewishness have exploded into the international consciousness: Has his Jewish background put him or his fellow Ukrainian Jews in more danger? Hed still be likely to win, but the historic 73 percent he scored in the second round feels like a distant memory. Zelensky, an entertainer-turned-politician, saw his approval ratings steadily decline since his election in 2019, continuing a string of displeasure with leadership within Ukraine over issues. He was perhaps best known for his role as Vasily Petrovich Goloborodko in the Ukrainian television show Servant of the People . who seek to honor former Nazi collaborationists, through statues, marches and other tributes. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. There were constant reshuffles. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Pew calls this an "all-time low" in surveys going back nearly two decades. Afiq Fitri is a data journalist at New Statesman Media Group. After winning the. PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: (As Vasyl Petrovych Holoborodko, speaking Russian). Then he had to deal with the Covid pandemic. His family is Jewish and, like many Ukrainian Jews, was scarred by the Holocaust. Mr. Zelensky, stung by the fallout, came to largely rely on the loyal rather than the qualified. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. his domestic approval rating was 31%, an anemic figure but by . Overview and forecasts on trending topics, Industry and market insights and forecasts, Key figures and rankings about companies and products, Consumer and brand insights and preferences in various industries, Detailed information about political and social topics, All key figures about countries and regions, Market forecast and expert KPIs for 600+ segments in 150+ countries, Insights on consumer attitudes and behavior worldwide, Business information on 60m+ public and private companies, Detailed information for 35,000+ online stores and marketplaces. Kesselman's confidence in Zelensky, Ukraine's first Jewish president, is both widely shared the president enjoys a record approval rating of about 70 percent and unusual for this . Yet Mr. Zelenskys behavior, odd to the point of erratic, obscures a truth: He has no good options. Subscribe for the best of our politics, international affairs, culture and business coverage, straight to your inbox. Americans with more education, especially those with postgraduate degrees, are also more inclined to have confidence in the Ukrainian president. On the one hand, any concession to Russia, particularly over the conflict in eastern Ukraine, would likely bring hundreds of thousands of people to the streets threatening him with the fate of Viktor Yanukovych, the president overthrown by a revolution in 2014. Meanwhile, the data show that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is held in higher esteem than ever among Americans, 60 per cent of whom view him somewhat or very favourably. Timeline of opinion polls in runup to the next Ukrainian presidential election, Opinion polling for the next Ukrainian presidential election, annexation of several southeastern Ukrainian oblasts, Opinion polling for the next Ukrainian parliamentary election, Opinion polling for the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election, Zelensky answered whether he would go for a second term, ": , ", "As it happened: Ukraine war latest: Resilience making Russia assess reality, negotiator says", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Opinion_polling_for_the_next_Ukrainian_presidential_election&oldid=1140803189, Articles with Ukrainian-language sources (uk), Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 21:42. But once. It reappears every winter. Statista. Photo: J. Scott Applewhite-Pool/Getty Images. WION: "Approval ratings of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fall amid Russia conflict" Paul Provenza, author of Satiristas! Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. The Ukrainians surprised us all. Anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies are either stalling or run by loyalists appointed by the president. He even had this campaign video where he asked people for ideas. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. (August 11, 2022). You only have access to basic statistics. Throughout 2020 his approval rating steadily fell. During the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election candidate (and latter winner of the election) Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that he was running for only one term. We walk into a small, heated tent, and they hand us skates. We are defending Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/bgHyrsbVFs, Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) February 25, 2022. The comic-turned-president surely never imagined the job would be quite so intense. His opponents said he was so inexperienced, he was bound to be a disaster. Instead, he studied law. Belgian mother slits throats of her five children and 16 years later chooses to die by euthanasia, Intelligence chiefs from 25 countries met in India this week, American woman arrested for self-administering abortion pills. Zelensky has not elaborated on the details of his Jewish upbringing, or his religiosity, but he also hasnt shied away from expressing, an occasional message of Jewish pride and a strong sense of solidarity with Israel. Accuracy and availability may vary. Ukraine is one of the few countries that elected a Jewish president, Oksana Markarova, the Ukraine ambassador to the United States, told the National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry in a webinar on Friday. Learn more about how Statista can support your business. Zelensky struggled as president, facing intense criticism, making major gaffes, and watching his approval ratings plummet. But this understandable effort to project calm and steady skittish markets was undermined by his showy style. In a tone-deaf address in January, for example, a patronizing Mr. Zelensky effectively mocked Ukrainians for their proneness to panic and laughed off a possible invasion. Zelensky won the election in a landslide. The current conflict is more than one country taking over another; it is in the words of one U.S. official a shift in "the world order. KELLY: He's good, she tells me, but she doesn't sound thrilled. In a bizarre complication to the narrative, Putin has repeatedly said that his military operation is an attempt to de-Nazify Ukraine. Zelensky has toed a line between projecting a strong patriotic front against Russia, and working to delicately stand up to the nationalists who seek to honor former Nazi collaborationists, through statues, marches and other tributes. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. I point to the building next to us and ask her, what does she think of the president? Olga Rudenko (@olya_rudenko) is the chief editor of The Kyiv Independent, a Ukrainian news site. Now it is 91 per cent. And it's low, but, you know, just like that skater you met today, people don't really see an alternative. Within that group, 33% have the highest level of confidence in Zelenskyy's leadership abilities. At first, it seemed to be working. After winning the election as a political novice with 73% of the vote, Mr. Zelenskys public approval rating had fallen to only 25% last October. Corruption just doesnt seem to worry Mr. Zelensky much at least when those implicated are close to him. Some 92% of Americans have little or no confidence in the Russian leader's handling of world affairs, while 77% have none at all. The man now seen as the face of resistance to Russian military aggression voiced the Peruvian bear in the . ", International Republican Institute, Do you approve or disapprove of the actions of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky? His supporters thought that he would break away from the old ways and end corruption. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky holds a press conference on Russia's military operation in Ukraine, Feb. 25, 2022. Positioning himself as the antithesis of Poroshenko, Zelensky ran in the presidential election as a populist politician who defends the interests of the people against the ruling class. National parties did not enjoy as much support in 2020 Servant of the Peoples poor results were followed by similar ones for opposition parties. UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER: Zero, zero, zero. Updated Feb. 4 at 10:37 am. We are here. First, President Volodymyr Zelensky commands a 94% approval rating. She is 41-year-old Ina Kulig (ph). But despite such dwindling numbers, he remains the most popular Ukrainian politician with support across Ukraine and a strong chance of re-election. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The study also found that 71.1% of Ukrainians believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, an increase from the 68.7% in July. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky poses for selfies with voters. Zelensky and his wife Olena Zelenska at a polling station on election day in Kyiv, May 21, 2019. We are in Kyiv. He had a very long day today talking with foreign embassies about this whole situation, and he says, listen. J. Scott Applewhite /Pool/AFP via Getty Images, In 'Servant of the People,' viewers got a glimpse of the future President Zelenskyy, Most Americans don't like Biden's Ukraine response and worry about inflation, Putin's puffy coat and Zelenskyy's T-shirts show the power of fashion in war, Read more here about the study's findings and methodology. The presidents tense relationship with the press doesnt help, either. A young couple is holding hands. That topic is acutely relevant in Ukraine, a post-Soviet republic with a large population of hypernationalists. I clomp over to the rink - kids, parents spinning, circling, wiping out. By the time Zelensky joined the Servant of the People series in 2015, he was one of Ukraines most famous pop culture figures. As we have been out and about here in the Ukrainian capital, we have met a lot of people who have a lot of not particularly nice things to say about the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.