Expert Yuriy Romanenko examined the legitimacy of power and its importance for the stability of the political regime in the context of Ukrainian presidents. He noted that the initially high legitimacy gradually weakened for each president since 1991. In particular, in the case of Zelenskyy, his rating sharply decreased, but the war with Russia gave him the opportunity to increase his legitimacy, though the chance was lost.
Analyzing the trajectory of presidents, Romanenko saw that each of them had problems with legitimacy at the end of their term. Zelenskyy's resignation created a power vacuum, underestimating the necessity of holding elections before 2023. This led to a decline in legitimacy, a drop in ratings, and an increase in anti-rating.