In recent months, the political landscape of Ukraine has been rapidly changing with President Volodymyr Zelensky continuously at the center of debate.
After 529 days since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24th 2022, many countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, and even Poland are beginning to express their dissatisfaction with his leadership.
With his suspected substance abuse and cancellation of upcoming elections, along with a lack of gratitude towards those who have helped him in the past, it is becoming increasingly clear that Zelensky may not be able to hold onto power much longer.
It seems that these discussions about the potential end of Zelensky’s rule have started to gain traction within mainstream media outlets and government officials alike.
Politico reported on an interview from last month where when asked about ‘Russian attempts to kill him’ he answered “he couldn’t afford to be”.
Ukrainian officials are now acknowledging this possibility as well – U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken commented “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.”
Mykola Knyazhytsky , an opposition lawmaker from Lviv stated: “When the president is unable to fulfill his duties, the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine [the Ukrainian parliament] takes over his responsibilities. Therefore, there would be no power vacuum.”
This succession would put Ruslan Stefanchuk in charge – a member of Zelensky’s party Servant Of The People and current Chairman Of The Verkhovna Rada.
Other names such Andrii Yermak (head office president), Dmytro Kuleba (foreign minister) and Valery Zaluzhny (top general) are also being thrown around as potential successors if something were to happen to Zelensky.
The Sun reportedly claimed Vladimir Putin gave Wagner PMC boss Evgene Prigozhin orders for assassination however, this appears far-fetched due lack evidence supporting it.
More recently though Ukraine security services detained a woman accused of trying to gather intelligence on Zelensky’s movements as they had received information Russia was planning a massive airstrike in the Mykolaiv region where he was visiting.
