A Ukrainian millionaire, Vadym Yermolaiev, who was the target of a bombing incident in Monaco, has accused Ukraine’s military intelligence agency of orchestrating the attack. The explosion, caused by a homemade bomb filled with bolts and pellets, occurred at the Sun Palace apartment building where Yermolaiev resided with his partner and their 13-year-old son. The blast resulted in severe injuries to all three individuals, with Yermolaiev’s partner reportedly losing her legs.
Yermolaiev, in his first public statement post-attack, released through his legal team, asserted that officers from Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, known as HUR, were directly involved in the attempted assassination. While he did not present evidence to support his claim, Yermolaiev suggested that former or current high-ranking HUR officials were aware of the plot.
Anastasiia Berezovska, a Ukrainian citizen and the main suspect in the bombing, was discovered deceased near Kyiv with gunshot wounds. A serving officer from Ukrainian military intelligence, Vladyslav Reut, and his co-defendant Vitalii Zhykovych, who worked for SBU, Ukraine’s internal security agency, were charged in relation to Berezovska’s murder. Both defendants denied the accusations, with Reut initially confessing to the killing before retracting his statement and implicating Zhykovych.
Yermolaiev, listed as the 39th wealthiest Ukrainian in a 2020 Forbes ranking, faced sanctions from Kyiv in 2023 due to his business interests in wine and alcohol in Russian-occupied Crimea. Describing the attack as a deliberate murder attempt, Yermolaiev highlighted the severe injuries sustained by his partner and son, emphasizing the long road to recovery ahead for the family.
A spokesperson for HUR, Andriy Yusov, refuted Yermolaiev’s allegations, labeling them as “subjective political statements” that could hinder the investigation into the bombing.