Monaco authorities have issued an international arrest warrant for a 39-year-old Ukrainian woman suspected of organizing a bombing outside a residential building in the principality. Three people, including a child, were injured in the attack. One of the victims remains in critical condition.
According to The Financial Times, Ukrainian businessman Vadym Iermolaiev, once listed among Ukraine’s wealthiest entrepreneurs, was among those injured. Monaco prosecutors have not officially disclosed the identities of the victims.
The explosion occurred on Monday shortly before 9 p.m. outside a building in central Monaco, a principality widely regarded as one of Europe’s safest enclaves and a magnet for wealthy residents from around the world. Investigators believe the explosive device had been planted in advance and was detonated remotely as the victims were returning home from dinner.
At first, investigators believed the attacker was a man. But after reviewing surveillance footage and witness testimony, prosecutors concluded that the suspect was a woman disguised in men’s clothing. According to investigators, she had surveyed the area several times in the days leading up to the attack.
According to an Interpol notice, the suspect has been identified as Anastasiia Berezovska. Her last known place of residence was in Germany. The car used in Monaco in the days before the attack was also rented in Germany.
Monaco deputy prosecutor Morgan Raymond said that new surveillance images and witness testimony had allowed investigators to identify the suspect. According to him, the woman “deliberately targeted the three people” and was likely helped to flee Monaco through Italy and other European countries before reaching Germany.
German prosecutors said they had searched the suspect’s rented apartment in the west-central state of Hesse in cooperation with Monaco police. A vehicle used by the woman was also seized.
The motive for the attack remains unknown. Monaco prosecutors believe the suspect most likely did not act alone. Raymond said the relative sophistication of the explosive device and the way the attack was carried out suggested the possible involvement of accomplices and those who ordered it.
The case has drawn particular attention because of the identity of one of the possible victims. Vadym Iermolaiev was known as an influential businessman and property developer from Dnipro, a major industrial city in southeastern Ukraine that is important to the country’s defense effort. In 2021, Forbes included him on its list of Ukraine’s wealthiest people.
Iermolaiev previously told Forbes Ukraine that he had renounced his Ukrainian citizenship in 2017 and had since held only a Cypriot passport. In late 2023, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy imposed sanctions on him over allegations that he had done business with Russian-linked entities in Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia, including Crimea. Iermolaiev has denied wrongdoing.
His wife, Anna Iermolaieva, previously told The Financial Times that the family was cooperating with the investigation. She also said she had not been in Monaco at the time of the blast and declined to provide further details about the victims.
The incident has shocked Monaco, where attacks of this kind are extremely rare. The principality has long been seen by wealthy individuals as a place offering privacy and a high level of security. Prince Albert II of Monaco said his thoughts were with the “victims, their families and the residents directly affected by this heinous crime.”
The investigation is ongoing. Authorities in Monaco and Germany are working to establish not only the suspect’s whereabouts but also the possible organizers of the attack.
This article was prepared based on materials published by The Financial Times. The author does not claim authorship of the original text but presents their interpretation of the content for informational purposes.
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