The Economist: unpublished poll puts Zelensky first and fired defense minister Fedorov third in hypothetical Ukrainian presidential race

Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov placed third with 16% support in an unpublished poll on a hypothetical presidential election in Ukraine, according to The Economist, which has seen the results.

The magazine said the poll was conducted before a video address in which Fedorov called for elections in Ukraine. The magazine did not specify exactly how the question was worded.

The poll showed incumbent President Volodymyr Zelensky leading the field with 21%. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the former commander in chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces and now Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, was second with 18%. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, was fourth with 8%.

Zaluzhnyi has long been described as one of Zelensky’s serious rivals should Ukraine hold a presidential election. The former commander in chief has said he intends to run, according to the Ukrainian news outlet Ukrainska Pravda. The same outlet previously reported the results of private polling conducted in June. That polling found that in a first round of voting, about 33% of voters who had made up their minds would back Zelensky, about 22% Zaluzhnyi, and nearly 14% Budanov.

Fedorov, who was defense minister at the time, was not included in that poll. Zelensky fired him in July, reportedly over a conflict with Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander in chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. Protests demanding Fedorov’s reinstatement then broke out in cities across Ukraine.

On August 18, Fedorov delivered a video address calling for a “legal, safe, and realistic mechanism” that would allow Ukraine to “resume a fully functioning democratic process even amid an ongoing war.” Zelensky’s office responded that planning elections amid drone and missile attacks is “extremely strange” and that Fedorov’s appeal “demonstrates a complete lack of realism.”