Shooting at Shefir's car: driver wounded, investigators' versions and Zelensky's reaction

More than ten bullets hit the car of the president's first aide.

On the morning of September 22, a car carrying Sergei Shefir, first aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky, was fired on with automatic weapons near Kyiv, and the driver was wounded.

Sixteen bullet holes were found in the car, and the Interior Ministry believes the incident was an attempt on Shefir's life.

Here is what is known about the incident so far: the investigators' versions, the reactions of Shefir himself, Zelensky and Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova.

Details of the shooting

The shooting of Shefir's car took place near the village of Lesniki in the Kyiv-Svyatoshyn district of Kyiv region. The driver was wounded, while Shefir himself was not injured. 

Law enforcement officers said the shooting took place at about 10 a.m. on September 22. Ten bullets hit the car.

Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova arrived at the scene. Law enforcement launched the special operation “Siren.”

Maryana Bezuhla, a People's Servant faction MP, said that three bullets hit the driver.

There are no surveillance cameras on this section of the road, and law enforcement is examining the area.

Investigators' versions

The Interior Ministry believes the goal of the attack on the president's first aide Sergei Shefir was not to intimidate but to kill, and outlined the main versions being considered by investigators.

Ihor Klymenko
Chief of the National Police

The three main versions being considered by the National Police are: a connection to state activity (Shefir's), an aim to pressure the country's top leadership, and an aim to destabilize the political situation, including a version involving the special services of foreign states.

Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi stressed that the goal of this attack was not to intimidate but precisely to kill. “I emphasize that the president's team will not be intimidated, and the reforms that have been launched, including the fight against organized crime, will continue,” Monastyrskyi said.

Shefir's comment

Shefir, speaking at an Interior Ministry briefing about the shooting of his car, said he is not engaged in any matters that could have provoked an attack on him personally, and that the goal of the attempt was to influence Zelensky's team.

Sergei Shefir
First aide to the President of Ukraine

I don't understand the reasons. I understand that we were driving. Suddenly there were shots, and the driver was wounded. The driver is a hero, he kept driving. Clearly we sped up a little. It was terrifying. I immediately called the police and the Interior Minister. Law enforcement reacted promptly. I immediately stopped an ambulance on the road, flagged it down, and they took the driver. I can't link this to what I'm working on, because in recent days I have been working on shows for the studio “Kvartal 95.” I haven't handled any cases that would provoke aggression.

Shefir believes the attempt on his life was an effort to intimidate the president's team, which, in his words, is impossible. He noted that he will most likely now be forced to use security services. 

Reaction from the Office of the President

The Office of the President said that the attack on the president's first aide Sergei Shefir can be classified as an attempt to demonstratively murder a key member of the team, which is linked to the fight against oligarchs.

Mykhailo Podolyak
Adviser to the head of the Office of the President

Obviously, this is an open, deliberate and extremely cruel attack with automatic weapons, and it can be classified only as an attempt to demonstratively murder a key member of the team. Law enforcement agencies are carrying out all necessary measures to catch the perpetrators. 

According to Podolyak, there is now a “situational union of semi-criminal political and economic actors for whom de-shadowing, de-oligarchization and a judicial reform pose a direct threat to their comfortable existence.”

Podolyak stressed that Zelensky's policy will remain unchanged, and that “the response to criminal actions will be even tougher anti-oligarchic and anti-criminal decisions by the authorities.”

Zelensky's response

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky is currently on a working trip to the United States for the UN General Assembly session. He is accompanied by Office of the President head Andriy Yermak and other OP representatives.

When Zelensky was informed of the incident, he recorded a video address in which he said he had been “sent greetings in the form of gunshots” and threatened a “strong response.”

Volodymyr Zelensky 
President of Ukraine

It is considered that this was an attempt at murder. Right after my speech at the UN General Assembly, I am heading to the capital. Who is behind this, I will frankly say — I don't know. Yet. What forces could be behind it, internal or external. But I do not consider them a force for myself. Because sending me greetings with gunshots from the forest at my friend's car is weakness. But the response will be strong.

According to the head of state, this does not affect the resilience or the president's team's course toward de-shadowing the economy and fighting crime and big financial groups; if anything, the opposite is true.

Venediktova's statement

According to the words of Ukraine's Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, the incident was a “challenge to the law enforcement system.”

Iryna Venediktova
Prosecutor General of Ukraine

Today a challenge has been thrown down to the law enforcement system: in the morning, on the road between the villages of Lesniki and Khodosivka in Kyiv region, the car of Ukraine's first aide to the president was fired on. The attackers had serious intentions — according to preliminary data, unidentified persons fired about 10 rounds from automatic weapons of 7.62 caliber.

Venediktova promised to provide other details and comments later, after priority investigative actions and an assessment of the situation, and asked not to speculate on this topic.

Condition of the injured

The injured driver was wounded in the leg. He underwent a successful operation, and everything went without complications, said Chief Physician of Feofania Hospital Ihor Semenov.

The injured man is in one of the intensive care units, but the doctor did not specify how many bullets hit the driver's leg, citing investigative secrecy.