Ukrainians’ approval of US at record high: Gallup  

A record two-thirds of Ukrainians approve of U.S. leadership as the Biden administration and Congress continue to funnel military and humanitarian support to Kyiv in its war with Russia, according to a new Gallup poll. 

Gallup’s World Poll for Ukraine found that 66 percent of Ukrainians now approve of U.S. leadership’s job performance, nearly double the 37 percent recorded in 2021, before Russia invaded in February.  

Before this year, Gallup’s annual survey recorded no Ukrainian approval rating for the U.S. higher than 38 percent in any year since 2006. In 2020, just 24 percent of Ukrainians approved of U.S. leadership. 

The U.S. has sent billions to Ukraine to help bolster its defense against Russia’s invasion since the war began in February, and has helped equip the country with heavy arms and intelligence that have contributed to increasing battlefield success.

But whether the bipartisan support for Ukraine will hold after November’s midterms has been called into question this week.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) this week warned Ukraine wouldn’t get “a blank check” under a GOP majority, suggesting the U.S. should focus on economic problems at home.

Ninety-six percent of Ukrainians in the Gallup poll say they disapprove of leadership in Russia, up from 69 percent last year.

Ukrainians viewed the Kremlin more positively until 2014, the year Russia annexed Crimea, and the disapproval figure has hovered around 70 percent in the years since.  

In 2014, just 5 percent of Ukrainians approved of Russia. This year, support dropped to 0 percent.

Gallup’s most recent polling was conducted Sept. 2-11 and surveyed Ukrainians throughout the country, including in the four occupied regions that have since been annexed by Russia.