Fraud in Moscow, billions in debts, and partners under sanctions: unknown facts about the owner of AFU supplier Fire Point, Denys Shtilerman, revealed

The question of real control over the company Fire Point, one of the largest suppliers of weapons to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has once again become the subject of public discussion. The reason for this was the audio recordings published by journalist Mykhailo Tkach (“Ukrainian Pravda”), which are featured in the materials of the NABU and SAPO investigation.

This is reported by the AntAC.

According to the published data, businessman Tymur Mindich, in conversations with the then Minister of Defence Rustem Umerov, discusses details of state contracts and the operational activities of “Fire Point,” using the pronoun “our” in reference to the company.

In response to journalists’ inquiries, the press service of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine noted that the minister’s communication with business representatives is part of the working process. However, this position does not explain Mr. Mindich’s status in the company’s structure, as he is not listed legally among its owners or management.

The official position of “Fire Point” remains unchanged: the sole owner and chief designer of the enterprise is Denys Shtilerman (owns 97.5% of the authorized capital). However, the content of the “tapes” indicates the likely influence of Tymur Mindich on strategic decisions, particularly regarding the attraction of foreign investments.

The recordings discuss a potential deal with the Arab holding EDGE regarding the sale of a company stake. Estimates suggest the transaction amount could have been hundreds of millions of dollars, with terms providing for a so-called “cash-out” — a payout of a significant portion of the amount directly to the owner.

In early 2024, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine blocked the sale of a 30% stake in “Fire Point” to EDGE for $760 million. If the deal had been completed, the formal owner could have received about $380 million in net income.

The rapid success of “Fire Point” — transforming from an obscure enterprise in 2023 into a strategic recipient of billion-dollar state orders — raises questions about the professional background of Denys Shtilerman.

The Anti-Corruption Action Center conducted a detailed check of public registries, court decisions, and archival data. The goal of our investigation is not to evaluate the technical characteristics of the company’s products, but the transparency of the ownership structure of the enterprise funded by citizens’ taxes.

In the course of the investigation, we found that Shtilerman often manipulates in his interviews, as his biography contains more interesting facts than he mentions, namely data on:

court disputes regarding Russian citizenship;
involvement in real estate projects in the territory of the RF;
business ties with persons involved in the Russian military-industrial complex;
presence of significant credit obligations and a history of family business activity in the aggressor country.

Below in this text and in the video on the Anti-Corruption Action Center’s YouTube channel are the results of the analysis of previously unknown facts from the biography of the official owner of “Fire Point”.

Cases involving theft and fraud

Denys Shtilerman spent his childhood in Kyiv. After school, in the 90s, he went to Russia to study at the Moscow Physics and Technology Institute. There he lived under his father’s surname, Danylov. In 1995, the young 4th-year student Denys Danylov was detained for theft in Moscow. There are records of this in Russian internal police databases.

In 2002, Shtilerman was sentenced in Russia to 5 years, with a probation period of 3 years, under the article “Fraud.” According to Russian investigators, Shtilerman, using knowingly forged documents, misappropriated funds from CJSC “IFK MFR Invest” in the amount of over 2 million rubles.

Already in 2003, as it appears, Mr. Denys begins his first unofficial business in Russia, and in 2004 — an official one. In particular, in 2003, a company LLC “Deimos” appeared in Russia. The company no longer exists, but it has a successor — LLC “Agrofirma Pirogovo.” Russian courts state that the hidden beneficiary of “Agrofirma Pirogovo” is Denys Danylov — also known as Shtilerman.

In 2008, LLC “Deimos” transferred 1,500 hectares of land in the Moscow region into private ownership, paying only 2.5% of the market value — one hundredth of a hectare cost 9 rubles. In dollar equivalent — 32 cents. This was such a high-profile case that in 2009, Putin, then prime minister, issued instructions to the FSB, МВД, and Prosecutor General’s Office to “take measures.”

In 2012, the Main Investigative Directorate of the RF for the Moscow Region initiated criminal proceedings under the article “Fraud” regarding the illegal acquisition by LLC “Deimos” (LLC “Agrofirma Pirogovo”) of ownership rights to land in the Moscow region. Several people were declared wanted, but in the end, the criminal case simply fell apart.

Khodorkovsky’s publication “Open Media” wrote that part of this land was built up with residential complexes. One of them, “Pirogovskaya Rivier,” is linked to Russian businessman God Nisanov. Partner of Nisanov, Ilham Ragimov — Putin’s classmate, they are friends.

Putin and God Nisanov in the Kremlin, July 31, 2014. (Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images)

As of 2019, much of the land transferred to private ownership by the company “Deimos” – “Agrofirma Pirogovo” was idle: “They were used only to obtain loans. For example, 18 hectares in 2011 were mentioned in a loan agreement: as collateral for this land, an offshore from Panama, Archer Enterprises S.A., received $6 million. The offshore belongs to Ukrainian citizen Leonid Danylov. Another over 3.6 square kilometers with the agrofirm’s farm buildings became collateral for opening a $20 million credit line at ‘M2M Private Bank.’ This loan was taken, presumably, by Danylov’s son — Denys Danylov (also a native of Ukraine).”

Shtilerman’s father in the Panama Papers

Denys Shtilerman’s father, Leonid Danylov, appears in the Panama Papers — leaks of confidential data from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca as the owner of three Panamanian offshores. In particular, “Archer Enterprises S.A.” This offshore held a 49% stake in the Russian company LLC “Lesnye Prostory,” liquidated in 2019 (note that Denys Shtilerman held shares in a similarly named Russian mutual investment fund). Leonid Danylov’s second offshore — “Haycraft Resources Inc” — previously owned several other Russian companies. Leonid Danylov’s third offshore, mentioned in the Panama Papers — “Quarter Development Corp.” Shtilerman himself talks about his father in interviews, saying he was a scientist who worked at a scientific institute in Kyiv.

Ties to Yuriy Zinkin, linked to money laundering and FSB connections

LLC “Agrofirma Pirogovo” owned by Shtilerman before the full-scale invasion owned dozens of real estate objects in the Mytishchi district of the Moscow region. This is land, farm buildings, grain elevators, and even a stadium. Online sources wrote that in 2008–2009, one of the owners of LLC “Deimos,” whose successor became LLC “Agrofirma Pirogovo” — and, as AntAC sees it, a possible partner of Shtilerman — was Yuriy Zinkin: “A source familiar with the Zinkin family describes him as an influential person who is closely associated with FSB employees.”

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Yuriy Zinkin, photo from the web

There are photos online of Zinkin’s "Rolls-Royce" parked in front of the main building of the special service on Lubyanskaya Square:

Yuriy Zinkin’s car parked in front of the main FSB building on Lubyanskaya Square in Moscow.

Other Russian sources also wrote that in 2005, Zinkin was sentenced to 7 years for money laundering through the Latvian bank ABLV. The suspicion involved abuses worth billions of dollars. But the investigation proved only the theft of $18 million.

In 2004, Shtilerman opened an official business in Russia — the company “Flounder.” The company was engaged in wholesale trade. It is still registered to the owner of “Fire Point.” But since 2014, it has been inactive. In 2025, “Flounder” was to be excluded from the Russian business registry as inactive. But the procedure was terminated — “due to receipt of statements from interested parties.”

Shtilerman had several more Russian companies. We will focus on some.

Business with a sanctioned top manager of the Russian defence industry

In 2005, Shtilerman and his first wife Tatyana became owners of 20% and 30% stakes in the Moscow LLC “System Business Integration.” Abbreviated as LLC “SIB.” According to registry data, it rented out property. The other half of the business was owned by Yaroslav Karpov. The story about Karpov will be a bit longer. Because this — is a person who has been in the Russian defence sector for decades.

Yaroslav Karpov

In the 2000s, Karpov headed the Moscow “Research Center for Automated Systems” and co-owned the private part of this enterprise. The center produces software, performs engineering calculations, and digital solutions for designing Russian missile and aviation equipment.

In 2020, Karpov was the first deputy general director of a major Russian defence enterprise “High-Precision Missile Systems.” Which produces “Iskanders,” “Tochka-U,” “Pantsirs,” and other Russian weapons.

In 2023, Karpov came under Ukrainian sanctions as a member of the board of directors of the Russian JSC “Scientific-Production Corporation ‘KBM’”. There they produce torpedoes, launchers, coastal missile systems, and other weapons.

In 2006, the company “SIB” was liquidated. But it had a successor — CJSC “SIB”. This company is still operating — manages real estate, rents it out — but according to documents, it is loss-making. The shareholders of CJSC are not publicly disclosed. But we found them. The fact is that Shtilerman accumulated debts in Russia that he did not repay. Due to the debts, the official owner of “Fire Point” and companies associated with him began to go bankrupt. In December 2022, at open auctions on the swamp, Shtilerman’s stake in CJSC “SIB” was sold for about $83 thousand. It was bought by Yaroslav Karpov — as a person entitled to priority acquisition.

Together with Shtilerman, his first wife Tatyana went bankrupt. Her stake was also sold at auction in Russia. And in July 2025, this stake was also bought by Karpov for $100 thousand. Since the right to priority acquisition of shares arises for partners, Shtilerman and the top Russian defence official Karpov were in the same company until the end of 2022. That is, until that time, Shtilerman was clearly associated with the Russian defence functionary Karpov, who came under sanctions from the NSDC three months later.

As can be seen, from 2008 to 2018, Shtilerman and companies from his orbit managed land in the Moscow region, avoided punishment for transferring this land to private ownership, and began selling plots to wealthy, sometimes the richest people in Russia.

Shtilerman’s debts in Russia: 1.6 billion rubles

According to data from Russian registries, at least since 2010, Denys Shtilerman and persons associated with him began accumulating debts in Russia. They entered into loan agreements and took out loans, sometimes for millions of dollars — in particular, secured by land. Shtilerman was lent money by everyone: individuals, companies, banks, even bank top management. For example, we found documents that Shtilerman took a loan to buy land from the chairman of the board of the Russian PIR Bank, Vitaliy Paskay. At the same time, the money for this loan was provided to Shtilerman by PIR Bank itself. And the real estate value was highly inflated — 200 million rubles at a cadastral value of 6 million.

PIR Bank is no longer operating. In 2024, in Russia, one of its executives, Andrey Serebryannikov, was sentenced to 4 years for embezzlement. The real owner of this bank was called Dmitry Rubinov — former top manager of the Central Bank, who also figured in a case of embezzlement in Russian banks but fled to Israel.

When Shtilerman ended up in Ukraine, his debts in Russia amounted to 1.6 billion rubles. In dollar equivalent, that’s about 18-20 million; in hryvnia — up to 800 million UAH. The rights to claim these debts were sold at auctions, as was Shtilerman’s property. When we at AntAC published news about this last week, some of us cheered in the comments: what’s the problem, he screwed the Russians — good for him. So it’s worth clarifying here that you don’t just leave Russia with such debts. And especially not let the debtor’s family live peacefully in Russia until 2025.

Tried to restore Russian citizenship through court

In 2016, Denys Shtilerman was stripped of his citizenship in Russia. Mr. Denys himself links this to his participation in Maidan, with the reason being a complaint from his ex-wife. At the same time, we see that Shtilerman tried to restore his Russian citizenship and even reached the Russian Constitutional Court. This is stated in the documents we found from September 2018. They challenged decisions of previous instances. That is, obviously, Shtilerman started litigating to restore Russian citizenship earlier. Also in 2016, Denys Danylov changed his surname to Shtilerman.

Ended up in pre-trial detention for fraud, lawyers made videos appealing to Putin’s words

In early 2018, Shtilerman ended up in the Moscow pre-trial detention center “Matrosskaya Tishina”. We learned about this from videos, one of which is called “Investigator against Vladimir Putin”. The videos were made under the guise of journalistic investigations, but only Shtilerman’s lawyers appeared in them, without his opponents. So it looks like these TV masterpieces were created by people who worked for the official owner of “Fire Point”.

In the videos, Danylov-Shtilerman’s lawyers appeal to Putin’s words. The essence of the video is roughly this: the respected Vladimir Putin said to fight pressure on business, but Russian law enforcement did not hear him and imprisoned Denys Shtilerman in pre-trial detention on suspicion of fraud. In the video, Mr. Denys is also called by his old surname — Danylov, and he is presented as the imprisoned head of “Agroholding “Istra”. Although officially, according to documents, Mr. Denys never headed this enterprise either.

“Istra” managed more than 50,000 hectares of land, poultry farms, and grain processing enterprises in the Moscow region. Then it went bankrupt, and internal disputes began – judicial and physical ones. In February 2019, the Russian press reported that the head of the agroholding and official shareholder Dmitry Silantyev attacked the official CEO Dmitry Kozlov with a knife and then tried to kill himself. Silantyev eventually died in 2019.

The essence of Shtilerman’s criminal case was as follows. Shtilerman or those who were in the registries instead of him did business with Dmytro Yeroshko’s company — also a native of Kyiv.

Dmytro Yeroshko

In Russia, Yeroshko became an influential businessman and partner of the Russian arms corporation “Rostec”. The business of Shtilerman and Yeroshko fell apart, and bankruptcy proceedings for one enterprise began. The outcome of this dispute determined whether the bankrupt enterprise would be sold at auction in parts or as a whole.

Shtilerman, apparently, was interested in not dividing the company. He may have planned to buy it at auction and develop it. Yeroshko’s side wanted to break it into parts, probably to sell faster. The court sided with Shtilerman. But following a statement from Shtilerman’s opponents, Moscow investigators initiated a criminal case under the article “Fraud” regarding the bankruptcy of the enterprise that was to be sold at auction. Shtilerman was imprisoned in pre-trial detention. He spent about half a year there. He was released also around the summer of 2018. The proceedings against him were closed due to lack of corpus delicti. After that, somehow, despite debts exceeding a billion, Shtilerman managed to leave Russia.

Shtilerman’s wife owned a developer in Moscow until February 21, 2022

Note that the current owner of “Fire Point” left Russia alone. His new wife Svetlana, whom he married, probably in 2016, and their children remained in Moscow — until the summer of 2025. In an interview, Mr. Denys says that his wife simply “didn’t want” to leave Russia at first.

Denys Shtilerman’s wife Svetlana

However, the AntAC has an explanation for why the Shtilerman family stayed in the Russian Federation. At least until early 2022. The fact is that from April 2018 until February 21, 2022, Shtilerman’s second wife Svetlana owned the Moscow development company “Specialized Developer Delo” (developers not only build but also manage the project from idea to completion). The “Delo” website states that they have created 1.5 million square meters of housing in various regions of Russia, including in Krasnodar, Novorossiysk, Omsk, Kaluga, and Moscow regions. And that their partners include such Russian financial giants as “Gazprom”, “Alfa-Bank”, “Sberbank”. Now the owner of “Fire Point” says that he is divorced, and that his now ex-wife and children live in another country.

The facts presented essentially raise the question: was it right to invest such a huge amount of taxpayers’ money in the defence industry specifically in the “Fire Point” company. And how many companies and technological solutions, which at the start were better than “Fire Point”’s drones and missiles, did not receive state support and government contracts because all the Ministry of Defence’s energy went to this monopolist close to power. And is it possible that under different conditions, Ukraine would already have its own real ballistics, and long-range drones could be more effective and cheaper.

After all, if Denys Shtilerman, as a citizen of the Russian Federation, had such facts in his biography, should Ukrainian taxpayers be confident that, as a citizen of Ukraine, he will not do the same with Ukrainian money.

At the same time, it is possible that Denys Shtilerman is just a facade of the company, with real control exercised by Tymur Mindich or someone else.

Either way – our army and defence now depend on the “Fire Point” company. The company is real, and it is important that its produced drones continue to destroy Russian oil refineries and other strategic facilities of the Russian Federation.

However, it is important that it was built with state resources to sell and cash out — that is, to withdraw and legalize hundreds of millions of dollars. And these funds were formally to be received by Denys Shtilerman.