Shtilerman’s Russian passports and family life in Russia
Denys Shtilerman has a quite eventful past: change of surname, bankruptcy, arrest, position at a university under the Russian Ministry of Defence, conflicts with the FSB. His passports draw special attention. According to official registers, Denys Shtilerman had several Russian passports, one of which is likely fake.
According to open registers, the passport issued on December 23, 2011, is already expired and is likely still in use, as it was not surrendered. Denys Shtilerman used this passport during one of his flights in 2016 from Nizhny Novgorod to Moscow. The planned replacement in 2019 did not take place, despite reaching the age of 45, which required the document to be reissued.
Denys Shtilerman was even registered for military service in Russia with this passport.
Another passport was issued in 2006.
A separate passport has a series that does not correspond to any official regional codes of the Russian Federation. Verification of the series indicates non-compliance with standards: the first two digits (“21”) do not correspond to regional codes, and the next two (“46”) allegedly reflect the year of manufacture – which has not yet arrived (year 2046).
In an interview, Shtilerman says: “I checked out of Kyiv on August 28, 1991, and went to Moscow to study. I registered in a Russian dormitory, and all people who were registered in the Russian Federation at that time automatically became citizens of Russia… In 2016, I was deprived of Russian citizenship, and I am very happy about it”
In May 2022, Shtilerman, as a Russian private entrepreneur, acted as a plaintiff in an arbitration case regarding the improper performance of obligations arising from land lease agreements in the Moscow region.
Shtilerman claims that he began engaging in public activity in Ukraine in 2014, but there is a high probability that he conducted part of this activity while residing in Russia.
In open sources, particularly Instagram, you can find photos of his wife with a house in the Moscow region. Other photos show Shtilerman during an online meeting with public figures of Ukraine. A comparison of these images with other materials allows for the conclusion that they are linked precisely to a Russian location.
After Shtilerman’s move to Ukraine, his family remained in Russia for a long time. This is confirmed by publications on social networks, including his wife’s Instagram. In a recent interview, Shtilerman stated that he is currently divorced, but did not specify when exactly it happened.
Despite active public activity in Ukraine, Shtilerman attended a wedding in Russia in 2017. His photos were published on Olena Krasna’s page in “Odnoklassniki”. The woman publishes posts on the social network supporting Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territories and materials that openly humiliate Ukraine.
Shtilerman’s family left Russia only in 2025. Denys Shtilerman said that Ihor Fursenko helped them with this – one of the figures in the “Mindich tapes”, which the NABU and SAP are investigating in a corruption case in Ukraine’s energy sector. According to law enforcement, Fursenko was involved in the activities of a back-office that ensured the legalization of funds in schemes around NNEGC “Energoatom”.
Despite all the changes and his move to Ukraine, Stillerman was in no hurry to say goodbye to Russia. His past, acquaintances, and financial ties in Russia remained an important part of his life even after the move. Sometimes his actions during this period resemble a flamingo rocket — unexpected, fast, and completely unpredictable, forcing observers to wonder where he is headed next.