Ukraine has plans if Prez Zelenskyy is killed, says Blinken

Kyiv, Mar 06: Ukraine has "plans in place" for continuity of the government in the event President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is killed amid the Russian invasion, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Speaking to a news channel about fears of the assassination of Zelenskyy, Blinken said: "The Ukrainian government's leadership is remarkable. I spoke to the Ukrainian foreign minister who said that his country has plans in place to ensure continuity in government."

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has reportedly survived three assassination attempts since the Russian invasion began last week.

The Times reported that two different assassination groups were sent to kill the Ukrainian President - the Wagner group and Chechen rebels.

According to The Washington Post, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) alerted the Ukrainians about a unit of Kadyrovites - elite Chechen special forces - sent to kill Zelensky. It quoted Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, as saying that these units were "destroyed". "And I can say that we have received information from the FSB, who today do not want to take part in this bloody war," Danilov told The Post.

Zelensky has said intel suggested that he was marked by the Russians as "enemy number 1."

Zelensky warned in a video message, "(The) enemy has marked me down as the number one target. My family is the number two target." "I will stay in the capital. My family is also in Ukraine."