JRL NEWSWATCH: “What Happens if Putin Gets Coronavirus? Who take over the Russian Government? What is the line of succession?” – The National Interest/ Charlie Gao
“… While many countries have a clear ‘line of succession’ …. [f]or Russia, this line of succession is not clear beyond the first step, which is the prime minister assuming the duties of the president. But recent measures in response to COVID may provide some level of insight …. Most leaders in Russia are still out and about, making statements and holding conferences regarding the virus. … Putin … Mikhail Mishustin, the prime minister, and Dmitry Medvedev, former president and prime minister and current deputy chairman of the security council. But there is a photo of Nikolai Patrushev, former FSB director and secretary of the security council, in what appears to be a secure underground facility, with his stream subtitled “СЦ СБ РФ.” СЦ СБ РФ expands to Ситуационный Центра Совет Безопасности Российская Федерация, or Situational Center of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. … said to be the core of the situational center network …. suggest[ing] … certain steps are being taken at least within the national security community to secure their leadership in time of crisis. Interestingly, this does not really square with the current legal basis for a line of succession … where the Security Council is not really involved. …”