A note about the recent SOCIS survey

Some background information

SOCIS, or the Center for Social and Marketing Research, recently came out with a new poll titled “The socio-political situation in Ukraine.” The information was gathered during the period of June 6-11, 2025, and the process followed all of the usual demographic norms. The research method was face-to-face using tablets.

The survey asked typical questions about whether the country is moving in the right direction, evaluating the performance of public officials, and opinions about the end of the war. It also included a section on electoral preferences, despite an agreement between major sociological organizations not to publicly release such data during the full-scale war. SOCIS published a similar survey in March 2024, shortly after Valeriy Zaluzhnyy was dismissed from his position.

Let’s take a moment to learn more about SOCIS. It was founded in November 1993 and is currently owned by sociologist Mykola Churylov and politician Ihor Hryniv. Churylov was involved in a scandal during the 2004 presidential elections when his company’s exit poll data suddenly deviated in favor of Yanukovych. Hryniv is a former People’s Deputy with the Poroshenko bloc and was Petro Poroshenko’s campaign manager in 2019. He was also implicated in a corruption case when his financial declaration did not seem to correspond to reality. Hryniv happens to be Chairman of the Supervisory Board for “Janus,” the company that partnered with SOCIS on this poll.

None of this means that the results of the recent survey are in any way inaccurate, but it does explain why the company would ask certain questions and continue to publish speculation about hypothetical elections. Though Zaluzhnyy has not expressed any interest in running for president, including him in this kind of survey helps to reinforce the possibility. This is part of what happened with Zelenskyy prior to his 2019 presidential campaign.

It also helps to promote the idea — particularly beneficial for his opposition — that Zelenskyy is not popular enough to be reelected, though the survey does show the preference for Zaluzhnyy beginning to wane slightly. As other sociologists have pointed out, it’s easier for Zaluzhnyy to maintain favorability when he’s largely out of the public eye. Opinions may change depending on the actual list of candidates and the situation when elections are eventually held.

The data from this survey can still be useful, but it’s important to be aware of who requested it as well as their potential motivations, especially when the results are promoted in the media. The same is true for any survey, of course. Even if some have biases, looking at a wide cross-section is likely to provide a more accurate analysis.

---

For more on this topic