Shots fired at Ukraine presidential aide’s car in assassination attempt

Investigators examine bullet holes in a car of Serhiy Shefir, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's principal aide, following an assault outside the capital Kyiv, Ukraine September 22, 2021. REUTERS/

Shots were fired at a car carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s principal aide on Wednesday, in what a senior official called an assassination attempt.

More than 10 bullets hit the car near the village of Lesnyky, around 5 km(3 miles) outside the capital Kyiv, wounding the driver, a police statement said.

The police said a criminal case on suspicion of premeditated murder had been opened.

A local television station said at least 19 bullet holes could be seen on the driver’s side of the car.

A senior lawmaker said the aide, Serhiy Shefir, was not hurt. Shefir is close to the president, leading a group of advisers.

The head of the president’s political party, Oleksandr Korniienko, said Russia could be behind the attack.

“A Russian trace should not be absolutely ruled out.

“We know their ability to organise terrorist attacks in different countries,” Korniienko told reporters.

The Kremlin said suggestions of Russian involvement “have nothing to do with reality”.

Zelinskiy said he did not know who was behind the attack.

“If someone is sending me a message by opening fire on my friend, that is weakness,” he said.

Zelenskiy, who came to power on a promise to take on the country’s oligarchs and fight corruption, is currently in the United States at the U.N. General Assembly.

His adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the assassination attempt could be a result of the president’s fight against the oligarchs.

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