Assassination attempt on Fire Point co-owner Shtilerman: businessman wounded, details disputed

Near Kyiv, an assassination attempt was made on Denys Shtilerman — co-owner of the defense company Fire Point.

The incident was reported by military journalist Serhiy Auslender on his Telegram channel, citing a source.

According to Auslender’s source, Shtilerman sustained a minor wound, one of his bodyguards was killed, and the attackers were eliminated. The journalist noted that the information requires additional verification, but added that the source had not let him down before.

“A source told me (the information requires additional verification, but the source has not let me down before) that near Kyiv there was an assassination attempt on the head of Fire Point. According to the source, Shtilerman was lightly wounded, one of his bodyguards was killed, and the attackers were eliminated,” Auslender wrote in his post.

Shortly after the post appeared, Shtilerman himself commented on the situation on the social network X. The businessman did not deny the assassination attempt itself, but disputed the information about the bodyguard’s death.

“Reports of my death or the death of my bodyguards are slightly exaggerated,” the Fire Point co-owner wrote.

Fire Point is associated with businessman Timur Mindich, who is considered to be close to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

This is not the first such incident near Kyiv. Previously, shots were fired at presidential first aide Serhiy Shefir. At the time, it was reported that his driver was hit by three bullets and was hospitalized in serious condition in intensive care, while Shefir himself was unharmed. Three months after that assassination attempt, police had still made no progress in the investigation.