Denis Shtilerman or Danilov?
According to available information, Denys Shtilerman spent a significant part of his life in the Russian Federation. This is not about a short-term stay, but approximately two decades of residency, during which family, property, and business ties were formed.
During the analysis of open data and sources from various databases, another name appears – Denys Danilov. A number of phone numbers, presumably connected to the same person, are found under different names: Denys Leonidovych, «Denys Kum Yegora», «Den Kym», Denys Illi Bezpilotniki”
A separate phone number, listed in the databases as “Vadim – assistant to Denys Danilov,” is also featured. The same number was used to book appointments at the Synevo medical laboratory for Denys Shtilerman and his father.
Thus, the same contact is associated with different surnames, which indicates a possible change of personal data. Denys Shtilerman publicly the fact of the surname change, but did so only after the information became public.
“My father, as he was Jewish, bore the surname Shtilerman. To enter university (he entered MEPhI), he changed his surname to a Russian one, and it helped him. But when they found out he had Jewish roots, he was expelled from that university,” says Shtilerman
Denys presents this version as a forced step, caused by discrimination. However, this information does not allow for an unambiguous confirmation that this specific reason was the decisive one, nor does it explain why different first and last names continued to be used significantly later than his student years.
What did Shtilerman do in Russia?
In an interview, Denys Shtilerman admitted that until 2008 he worked in one of the institutes subordinate to the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, and only the war in Georgia, according to him, forced him to leave the position.
While in the Russian Federation, Denys Shtilerman, listed as Denys Danilov in Russian state registers, was involved in commercial activities with full managerial and financial control.
This includes companies registered directly under his name, where he acted as co-owner or sole beneficiary, made management decisions, and was responsible for financial obligations. Specifically:
JSC “Agro-Alliance”, registered in 2005. The main profile is the cultivation of grain, legume, and oilseed crops. Shtilerman owned 45% of the shares**,** was among the co-founders, and remained in the ownership structure until the end of 2021.
Only after this did he withdraw from the shareholders amid financial difficulties of the enterprise and the start of bankruptcy proceedings, which were accompanied by preparations for auctions for the sale of assets.
Formally, the company was declared for liquidation in 2022. However, according to the Russian analytical service, the actual cessation of activities did not occur: in 2025, the process of excluding “Agro-Alliance” from the state register was stopped, and the company still has debt obligations.
LLC “Flounder”, founded in 2004. The scope of activity is wholesale trade. According to Russian registers, in this case, Shtilerman was the sole owner, controlling 100% of the company until December 2021. The further scenario practically repeats the history with “Agro-Alliance”: withdrawal from the business at the end of 2021, liquidation procedures, financial claims, and again – the suspension of exclusion from the register in 2025 after the intervention of interested parties. Both companies are formally “closed” but legally remain in limbo – with debts and unfulfilled obligations.
Shtilerman was also associated with the company LLC “System Business Integration” from 2004 to 2006 and JSC “System Business Integration” from 2006 to 2015, which is confirmed by entries in his employment record book.
Denys owned at least 20 shares of the JSC, which were put up for auction in July 2022 as part of the bankruptcy procedure, with a starting price of $341,000, which dropped to $61,000 by November 2022.
Family property
Parallel to the development of business in Russia, the material base of the Shtilerman family was also formed. According to Russian registers, Shtilerman’s father, Leonid Danilov, owned at least five real estate objects on the territory of the Russian Federation and temporarily occupied Crimea. The total value of these assets was about $2.1 million.
In August 2020, Leonid Danilov sold or transferred two real estate objects in Moscow with a total value of approximately $1.8 million, and in October of the same year, he passed away.
As of December 2025, Denys Shtilerman owned a land plot in the Moscow region with an area of 155.6 m², the approximate value of which is $15.8 thousand.
A separate array of assets is registered in Russian registers under Svitlana Danilova, Shtilerman’s second wife. Svitlana owns a number of real estate objects in Russia. In the Moscow region, this is a land plot in Zhostovo (155.6 m², $15.8 thousand), a small object in Nemchinovka on Olkhovа St., building 9 (15.6 m², $13.2 thousand), and an apartment in Nemchinovka, Odintsovo city district, apt. 53 (81.7 m², $134.3 thousand). In the Novgorod region – two houses in Pishchany on Tsentralna St., 90B (427.3 m², $120 thousand) and 90V (110.4 m², $39.1 thousand), as well as several objects in Veliky Novgorod: real estate on Zelenа St., 12 (9.3 m², $7.8 thousand), an apartment on Zelenа St., 12, apt. 59 (64 m², $141.6 thousand), and an apartment on Narodna St., 9, apt. 5 (25% ownership, 104.1 m², $199.4 thousand).
Even after formally withdrawing from Russian companies and changing his country of residence, real estate assets in the Russian Federation remained either with Shtilerman himself or within his immediate family circle.
Ukrainian companies and related persons
In August 2025, Denys Shtilerman’s mother, Halyna, became the owner of two Ukrainian companies – LLC “City Rental” and LLC “J P Food Supply”. The first company operates in the rental and operation of real estate market, and the second is engaged in the production of wooden containers. Before this, from almost the beginning of the 2000s until 2025, foreign businessmen, including Jeff Usefpolsky and Edward Korolyov, appeared among the co-owners of these enterprises.
Edward Korolyov is a native of the Soviet financial system. From the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, he worked in the structures of Vneshtorgbank and Vnesheconombank of the USSR and the Russian Federation, where he rose from economist to deputy head of the currency department. In different years, Korolyov worked outside of Russia, including in Bulgaria and the United Kingdom. In the mid-1990s, he moved to the United States, where he held management positions in financial and consulting companies. At the end of the decade, he was engaged in securities operations, asset management, and financial risk analysis in the USA and Russia. Separate sources link Korolyov with work at a state enterprise in the Tver region, which dealt with the processing of waste and scrap metal.
Jeff Usefpolsky is originally from Odesa, and currently resides in Miami. According to data as of November 2025, he is associated with at least 4 Russian legal entities. In particular, he is still the director of LLC “Trading Firm Daira” (registered in 1998) and was previously a co-owner of three other companies that are inactive as of 2025. In 2006–2007, Usefpolsky also owned 19.98% of the shares of the Russian JSC “Metaloplastmas”, which is engaged in the rental of commercial real estate.
In the context of Denis Shtilerman‘s work in the strategic sector of the Ukrainian defense industry (Flamingo Rocket), these facts once again raise questions not about formal citizenship, but about the real level of separation from the Russian economic and legal sphere.
These facts demonstrate that Denys and his family were deeply integrated into the economic and social life of Russia. In this light, his move to Ukraine seems almost illogical.