72% of Ukrainians hold Zelensky responsible for his entourage's corruption - survey

The vast majority of Ukrainians believe that the level of corruption in the country has increased during the full-scale war. At the same time, 72% of respondents hold President Volodymyr Zelensky responsible for corrupt actions by his entourage, although sociologists warn against interpreting this answer as accusing the president of personal involvement in corruption.

These are the results of a survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, conducted on September 12-21, 2026.

According to KIIS, 72% of respondents believe that the level of corruption in Ukraine has increased during the full-scale invasion. Only 6% see a decrease. The rest believe that the level of corruption has not changed, or could not decide.

Such public perception has been recorded before. In September 2025, 71% of KIIS respondents also said corruption had increased since the start of the full-scale war. Then 20% believed the situation had not changed, and 5% - that the level of corruption had decreased.

Separately, sociologists asked Ukrainians about President Zelensky's responsibility for the corrupt actions of people from his entourage.

72% of respondents answered that Zelensky bears such responsibility. 25% of respondents disagreed with this statement.

At the same time, KIIS separately emphasizes that these data require careful interpretation. According to sociologists, the concept of "personal responsibility" in this case for a significant part of citizens primarily means the political responsibility of the president for the people on his team, rather than a statement about his personal involvement in corrupt actions.

Attitudes to this issue noticeably depend on the level of trust in Zelensky. Among respondents who "rather trust" the president, 60% do not consider him responsible for the corrupt actions of his entourage.

Among those who "rather do not trust" Zelensky, 57% hold him responsible, 19% do not, and 23% are undecided. Among respondents who do not trust the president at all, 85% consider him responsible.

KIIS also draws attention to the difference between public perception of corruption and its actual prevalence. According to KIIS Executive Director Anton Hrushetskyi, citizens largely form their assessment of high-level corruption based on information from media, social networks, and high-profile investigations.

At the same time, high-profile corruption cases can be perceived simultaneously as evidence of the prevalence of the problem itself and as a result of more active work by anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies.

The survey was conducted by telephone interviews among 1,002 adult citizens of Ukraine living in territory controlled by the Ukrainian government. The sample did not include citizens who went abroad after February 24, 2022. The formal statistical error for indicators close to 50% does not exceed 4.1%.

Source: KIIS