On Tuesday, September 22, in the Kiev region, unidentified persons shot at the car in which the first assistant to the President of Ukraine Serhiy Shefir was.
The driver was seriously injured and was taken to intensive care, the official himself was not injured.
On this fact, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine opened a case under Part 2. of Art.
115 of the Criminal Code ("Intentional Murder").
Also, the circumstances of the incident are being investigated by the SBU, the National Police, and the State Security Department of Ukraine.
Operation "Siren" is being carried out in order to identify the persons who carried out the attack.
“I would like to note that the aim of the assassination attempt was not to scare, but to kill the first assistant to the President of Ukraine,” the Minister of Internal Affairs of the country Denis Monastyrsky wrote on his Facebook page.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is now in New York at a session of the UN General Assembly, reacted to the incident.
He stated that he did not know what forces were behind the incident, but promised to find the culprits.
“Frankly, I don’t know who is behind this.
For now.
What are these forces, maybe internal or external.
But I don’t consider them strength, because it is weakness to send me “hello” with shots from the forest to my friend’s car, ”the Ukrainian leader said.
Shefir himself, at a briefing at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, said that the attempt on his life was "committed with the aim of intimidating the highest echelon of power" and called the versions that the incident was somehow connected with conflicts within Zelensky's team "idiotic".
“But you have to understand that our President Vladimir Alexandrovich is a very strong-willed person, pivotal, you cannot intimidate him.
He chose the right path, goes his own way, the people support him, ”Shefir said.
The shot car of Sergei Shefir
AFP
© UKRAINIAN INTERIOR MINISTRY PRESS SERVICES
A similar point of view was expressed by the adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, Mikhail Podolyak.
In his opinion, the incident with Shefir should be viewed as "an attempt on the president's attempt to break the system" that has developed in the country.
And behind this may be "smugglers, criminal enclaves ... or oligarchic structures."
"It was more important to scare"
The head of the Kiev regional prosecutor's office, Aleksey Khomenko, told reporters that about 18 shots were fired at the car from automatic weapons.
At the time of the shooting, Shefir was in the back seat.
An RT source in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine said that the queue was fired on the left side of the car in the direction of its movement.
The shooting was carried out from an ambush.
After the shots, Shefir called Denis Monastyrsky.
The car drove some distance and stopped in the parking lot of the ATB supermarket.
Then the first assistant to the president got into a police car and left for a "safe place."
Sergey Shefir
globallookpress.com
© Sergii Kharchenko / ZUMAPRESS.com
“It is interesting that the shooters did not check whether the presidential aide was alive.
This may indicate that it was more important for them to scare rather than kill.
Currently, cars and trucks are being inspected on the Novoobukhovskoye highway, the SBU and the prosecutor's office have joined the investigation.
The President demands that those who ordered the assassination attempt be found as soon as possible, ”the source says.
An RT source in the president's office said that the incident should be viewed as an attempt to assassinate Shefir.
According to him, the fired car was not armored.
The official often sat behind the wheel and did not use security.
“He felt safe and did not use security.
Moreover, on the way from his house to the busy highway, there are many places where you can set up an ambush.
President Zelensky was also shocked by what he heard and did not understand what was happening, ”the source said.
"There may be dozens of versions"
Shefir is considered a significant figure in the Ukrainian political elite.
In last year's rating of Ukrainian political scientists, he was included in the top five most influential officials of the country, although later, as the media noted, his position began to weaken.
Before Zelensky's victory in the presidential elections in the spring of 2019, Shefir was his partner and close associate in the creative workshop.
Together with him, he worked as the artistic director and author of "Studio Quarter-95".
Shefir has provided significant support to Zelenskiy's career as an artist.
In 1995, he invited him to the team "Zaporozhye - Kryvyi Rih - Transit", thanks to which the aspiring showman at that time became widely known in Ukraine and the CIS.
With the start of Zelensky's election campaign, Shefir became one of the leaders of his headquarters, and on May 21, 2019, he was appointed First Assistant to the President of Ukraine.
Two months after the appointment, in an interview with the Left Bank portal, Shefir said that his main task was "to be around and make sure that he (Zelensky. -
RT
), having become a politician, remains a man."
According to the Ukrainian publication STRANA.ua, in the president's office, Zelensky's first aide “specializes” in such delicate tasks as controlling financial flows and redistributing business in favor of the Ukrainian leader and his inner circle.
Also, according to journalists, Agro Gas Trading LLC (AGT) is associated with the First Assistant to the President of Ukraine.
Until recently, she was engaged in the supply of urea (urea) to the Odessa Port Plant.
In April, the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine opened a criminal case against the company for illegal actions that led to tax evasion in the amount of UAH 41 million (RUB 112 million).
The agency caught AGT in the illegal sale of surplus urea.
The company's management announced that the claims of the fiscal service were far-fetched.
STRANA.ua informs that recently supplies of products of Agro Gas Trading LLC to the Odessa Port Plant have been stopped.
The newspaper explains the difficulties of the enterprise by the deterioration of Shefir's political positions due to a spat with the president.
The RT source in the Servant of the People party confirms the data that Shefir's influence on Zelensky was waning.
In addition, the state of affairs for the official was aggravated by a conflict with the head of the president's office, Andrei Yermak.
According to the interlocutor, "Yermak did everything to ensure that the president received all information exclusively from him."
The shot car of Sergei Shefir
AFP
© Handout / UKRAINIAN INTERIOR MINISTRY PRESS SERVICES
Also, a representative of Servant of the People said in an interview with RT that Shefir was going to leave the presidential office after leaving the post of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov in July this year, with whom he had warm relations.
Despite Shefir's strained relations with Zelensky and Yermak, an RT source in the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine suggests that the assassination attempt on Shefir is more like an attempt to intimidate the president and his entourage.
“There can be dozens of versions, up to a conflict in the presidential team, a struggle for cash flows, and even revenge of radicals.
Therefore, the investigation will be difficult, and it is not a fact that the true customers and performers will ever be identified.
But, as I think, it was a warning, a threat to President Volodymyr Zelensky and his entourage, ”the source said.
Casus belli
At the moment, the law enforcement agencies of Ukraine have not voiced any specific versions of the incident in the Kiev region.
However, the head of the Servant of the People faction David Arahamia, who is well acquainted with Shefir, put forward several assumptions, including the so-called “Russian trace”.
Press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, in an interview with reporters, categorically rejected the version of Moscow's involvement in the incident with Shefir.
“Unfortunately, in our time in Ukraine, no matter what happens, none of the current politicians are able to exclude the“ Russian trace ”... This, of course, has nothing to do with the real state of affairs, these are rather signs of such an overly exalted emotional fortune, "- said Peskov.
In the RT commentary, Sergei Tsekov, a member of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs from the Republic of Crimea, also stated that the version of the "Russian trace" was groundless.
In his opinion, the attack on Shefir is most likely connected with the redistribution of property in favor of the team of the President of Ukraine.
“In general, the redistribution of property has begun in Ukraine.
Property is being redistributed in the interests of Zelensky's closest circle ... This is what led to what happened to Zelensky's assistant, "Tsekov said.
The RT source in Servant of the People drew attention to the fact that the incident occurred against the background of a heated discussion of the most important bills that relate to the so-called de-oligarchization, changes in tax policy and the planned resignation of the head of the Verkhovna Rada, Dmitry Razumkov.
“Everything happened on the eve of voting on bills important for the country.
Therefore, with a high degree of probability, what happened can be considered as a warning to Zelensky, his team and party, ”the source said.
In a conversation with RT, Ukrainian political scientist, director of the Institute for Analysis and Policy Management Ruslan Bortnik suggests that shooting at the Sheriff's car can, on the contrary, be used by Zelensky to "tighten the screws" - to strengthen the fight against opponents, forcing unpopular and ambiguous decisions.
“I do not believe in the version of a fake assassination attempt, since the shooting was carried out at a moving car and Shefir could easily have been hit.
But the authorities can present what happened as evidence that they are opposed by terrorists.
From my point of view, this incident can serve as a catalyst for more radical actions of the ruling elite, "Bortnik emphasized.
Vladimir Zelensky and Sergey Shefir
globallookpress.com
© Volodymyr Tarasov / ZUMAPRESS.com
Ukrainian political scientist Alexander Semchenko, on the contrary, does not exclude that Zelensky's team could “simulate an assassination attempt” to obtain political benefits.
According to the expert, Shefir was aware of what was about to happen.
“Zelensky and Shefir have a long history of friendship and commercial cooperation when they shared business and money.
I doubt that a really serious rift could have happened between them, as many say.
I think it was a fake crime.
If you look at the bullet holes, you involuntarily get the impression that they didn't aim at the passenger at all, ”Semchenko said.
According to the expert, the assassination attempt on Shefir will most likely be used "as a casus belli to unleash a repressive campaign inside the country."
According to Semchenko, against the backdrop of a fall in the rating and an increase in social tension in the country, Zelensky expects to retain power by pursuing a tougher course.
“The life of a driver for people like Zelensky and Shefir does not really matter. In Ukraine, there have already been imitations, which were passed off as attempts by the investigation. In my opinion, it is beneficial for Zelensky now to show how many enemies he has, that they actually unleashed a war, and on this basis to fight opponents with even more harsh and illegal methods, ”Semchenko summed up.