Blinken Claims Kiev Ready to Ensure 'Continuity' of Gov't in Case of Zelensky's Death

The whereabouts of the Ukrainian leader have been shrouded in mystery in recent days, amid his own statements that he will not leave the country's capital, Kiev. Earlier, Zelensky also claimed that he was the "No. 1 Target" of the Russian military operation and that there was a direct threat to his life and to his family.

Ukrainian officials, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, have a plan in place if President Volodymyr Zelensky winds up dead amid the ongoing Russian military operation in the country, launched to demilitarize and denazify the nation.

"The Ukrainians have plans in place that I'm not going to talk about or get into any details on to make sure that there is what we would call 'continuity of government' one way or another. And let me leave it at that," Blinken said on Sunday in an interview with "Face the Nation" on CBS.

#Blinken says #Ukraine has “plans in place” for continuity of #government in the event Pres. #Zelensky is #killed during #Russia ’s #invasion.
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— JEREMY SONG (@JEREMYSONG750) March 6, 2022

Despite these reassuring revelations, Blinken noted that Zelensky's leadership has been "remarkable" since the situation erupted on February 24.

"The leadership that President Zelensky has shown, the entire government has shown, is remarkable. They’ve been the embodiment of these incredibly brave Ukrainian people," the state secretary said.

If the president dies while in office, the chair of the parliament takes his place, according to Ukraine's constitution. Ruslan Stefanchuk is the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament.

Blinken's comments follow reports that US officials and allies have been debating the line of presidential succession in the event that Zelensky is dead or captured.

According to the American media, US officials have advised Ukrainians not to keep key officials in the same spot over lengthy periods of time and to relocate them to locations outside the country's capital. But the Ukrainian authorities have claimed that Zelensky remains in Kiev and the president himself refuted allegations that he had fled the country on Friday.

Earlier, Ilya Kiva, a Ukrainian opposition politician, claimed that Zelensky "urgently" flew to Poland and is sheltering in the US Embassy there. A similar assertion was made by the Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, who said that based on accounts, Zelensky left the country’s capital shortly after the start of the operation and headed for Lvov, in western Ukraine near the border with Poland. However, soon after that, Ukrainian politicians could not reach the president at his location in Lvov, as he moved further west to Poland.

The United States and its allies would reportedly like to see Ukrainian officials establish a leadership center outside of Kiev. The idea of a presidential retreat in the Carpathian Mountains has allegedly been mooted, but Ukrainian officials have not stated if the location includes bomb shelters or other security features.

According to Ukrainian officials, Zelensky has already evaded one assassination attempt in the past two weeks.