Top Aide to Ukrainian President Targeted by Gunfire in Assassination Attempt

Top Aide to Ukrainian President Targeted by Gunfire in Assassination Attempt
An investigator examines bullet holes in a car of Serhiy Shefir, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's principal aide, following an assault outside of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 22, 2021. Serhii Nuzhnenko/Reuters
Lorenz Duchamps
Updated:

A top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was targeted by a volley of gunfire on Sept. 22 during an apparent assassination attempt, according to authorities.

A statement released by national police confirmed that more than 10 bullets were fired at the vehicle of Serhiy Shefir at about 10 a.m. near the village of Lesnyky, located just outside of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

The 57-year-old senior official survived the heavy gunfire unscathed, although police said the driver of the vehicle had been wounded. Shefir is a long-time friend of and the first assistant to Zelensky.

Presidential aide Serhiy Shefir walks after the inauguration of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, Ukraine, on May 20, 2019. (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)
Presidential aide Serhiy Shefir walks after the inauguration of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, Ukraine, on May 20, 2019. Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters

Shefir said during a joint news briefing with police and Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky that he believes the attack against him was designed to scare the Ukrainian leadership.

“I have not conducted any cases that would have caused aggression. I think this is intimidation,” Shefir said, adding that he’s confident the incident “won’t frighten the president.”

Zelensky, who’s currently in New York for the U.N. General Assembly, has been informed of the attack, but said he doesn’t know who was responsible for it.

“I don’t know yet who stood behind this,” Zelensky said. “Sending me a message by shooting my friend is weakness.”

Markers are attached next to bullet holes in a car of Serhiy Shefir, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's principal aide, following an assault outside of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 22, 2021. (Serhii Nuzhnenko/Reuters)
Markers are attached next to bullet holes in a car of Serhiy Shefir, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's principal aide, following an assault outside of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 22, 2021. Serhii Nuzhnenko/Reuters
Investigators examine bullet holes in a car of Serhiy Shefir, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's principal aide, following an assault outside of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 22, 2021. (Serhii Nuzhnenko/Reuters)
Investigators examine bullet holes in a car of Serhiy Shefir, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's principal aide, following an assault outside of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 22, 2021. Serhii Nuzhnenko/Reuters

Ukrainian Prosecutor-General Iryna Venediktova wrote on Facebook that 7.62 mm automatic weaponry was used in the apparent assassination attempt and that she also believes the criminal intentions were “serious.”

According to a local television station, at least 19 bullet holes could be seen on the driver’s side of the car.

An investigation of suspicion of premeditated murder is underway, police said. Zelensky told Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform that the “response will be strong.”

Zelensky came to power on a promise to take on the country’s oligarchs and fight corruption, and Mykhailo Podolyak, one of his advisers, said the assassination attempt could be a result of the campaign against the oligarchs.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gives a joint news conference at Mariinsky Palace in Kyiv on Aug. 22, 2021. (Sergey Dolzhenko/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gives a joint news conference at Mariinsky Palace in Kyiv on Aug. 22, 2021. Sergey Dolzhenko/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

“This open, deliberate, and extremely violent assault with automatic weapons cannot be qualified any differently than as an attempted killing of a key team member,” Podolyak told Reuters.

“We, of course, associate this attack with an aggressive and even militant campaign against the active policy of the head of state,” Interfax Ukraine quoted Podolyak as saying.

Parliament is due to debate this week a presidential law aimed at reducing the influence of oligarchs in Ukrainian society.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Lorenz Duchamps
Lorenz Duchamps
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Lorenz Duchamps is a news writer for NTD, The Epoch Times’ sister media, focusing primarily on the United States, world, and entertainment news.
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