The chief aide to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky was today targeted in an assassination attempt when his car came under fire, the country's interior minister said.
Gunmen armed with automatic weapons fired at Serhiy Shefir's car near the village of Lesnyky, just south of the capital Kiev, leaving the driver seriously injured, Anton Gerashchenko said.
'More than 10 bullets hit the car. The driver is seriously injured,' Mr Gerashchenko wrote on Facebook.
The shots were fired from the woods with automatic weapons at around 10am on Wednesday and Ukraine's National Police said a criminal case on suspicion of premeditated murder has been opened.
A local television station said at least 19 bullet holes could be seen on the driver's side of the car. Images from the scene show the black Audi with a number of bullet holes in the car.
One of Zelensky's aides said the assassination attempt could be in response to the president's fight against oligarchs while another said Russia could be behind the attack.
An investigator examines bullet holes in a car of Serhiy Shefir following an assassination attempt on Wednesday
Images from the scene show the black Audi with a number of bullet holes in the car
The chief aide to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (centre), Serhiy Shefir (left), was today targeted in an assassination attempt when his car came under fire, the country's interior minister said
'Unidentified individuals fired about 10 shots from a 7.62 calibre automatic weapon,' Ukraine's Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said on Facebook.
She added that an investigation was underway for a case of 'attempted murder'.
A senior lawmaker said the aide, Serhiy Shefir, was not hurt. Shefir is close to the president, leading a group of advisers.
'I briefly spoke to him, everything is fine, he is alive and