From 25% to 65%: Putin’s war is Zelenskyy’s unexpected engine of soaring popularity

Even though Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been the face of Ukraine today, that was not always the case.

Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, his approval rating was just 26 per cent in 2021. It was his leadership in the war that surged his popularity.

Within weeks, as he rallied the nation and stood defiant in the face of the invading Russian forces, Zelenskyy’s approval surged to 74 per cent.

Even though his popularity and the Ukrainians’ trust in the government have taken a hit in recent months, Zelenskyy broadly remains popular in the public, with the latest survey by Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) in June showing an approval rating of 65 per cent.

However, this survey was conducted before Ukrainians took to streets this month in opposition to the Zelenskyy-backed law that cracked down on the independence of the country’s anti-corruption agencies. Those protests were seen as a sign as even though the country remained united, the public was not willing to accept any authoritarian streaks.

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How Russian invasion propped Zelenskyy

Five years after Russia invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea, Zelenskyy came to power in 2019 on the back of anti-establishment platform.

Zelenskyy campaign against corruption and promised to bring peace in the Donbas region where an Russia-backed insurgency had been raging. He also promised transparency in the government.

However, within two years, Zelenskyy was criticised for not being able to deliver on his promises related to corruption and transparency. His administration was also accused of incommoding business interests. As a result, his approval ratings below the 50 per cent-mark throughout 2020 and 2021.

In 2022, however, as Russia invaded Ukraine, Zelenskyy rose to the occasion and his handling of the war reversed the public perception.

Zelenskyy has been hailed as the Winston Churchill of the age, the British premier who led his nation through the World War II and rallied international support against the Nazis rampaging through Europe.

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Zelenskyy refused to leave Ukraine even as many Western leaders urged him to do so. Dressed in military fatigues, he transformed into a wartime leader and that reflected in his ratings. In April 2022, Zelenskyy’s approval rating surged to 74 per cent.