The Ukrainian Candidates

The Khrushchev Succession Sweepstakes began all over again last week when the Communist Party Central Committee named two new secretaries. Out in front is Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev, 56, a shrewd, swarthy metallurgical engineer whom Khrushchev plucked from an obscure job in the Ukraine little more than a decade ago. Brezhnev will now probably give up the merely ceremonial functions of the Soviet presidency, take over as taskmaster of heavy industry and armaments. The second new secretary is Ukrainian Party Boss Nikolai Podgorny, 60, who is expected to take over the supervision of party cadres.

Both men were already members of the Central Committee's inner sanctum, the Presidium. Now, as secretaries of the committee as well, they move into the most elite echelon of the Soviet hier archy. Only four other Red leaders hold such a double position, and none is Khrushchev's likely successor. The four: Frol Kozlov, 54, who suffered a severe stroke in April; elderly Otto Kuusinen, 81; Senior Theoretician Mikhail Suslov, 60, compromised by a Stalinist past; and Khrushchev himself.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.