Police are hunting a man suspected of detonating a makeshift bomb in Monaco believed to have targeted a Ukrainian-born oligarch.
More than 100 police officers from France and Monaco, aided by two helicopters, are on the hunt of the suspect who tried to kill a 58-year old man, his 13-year old son and a woman who is in critical condition. The explosion reportedly tore off part of her legs.
French and Ukrainian media said the target of the attack was Vadym Yermolaiev, who was a major property developer in Dnipro, eastern Ukraine. He left the country several years ago, renounced his citizenship and became a citizen of Cyprus. He was placed under Ukrainian sanctions in December 2023.
Monaco's public prosecutor Stephane Thibault said on Tuesday the incident was not a terrorist attack but was being treated as attempted murder. He declined to identify the victims, saying they had yet to be questioned because they were receiving treatment in hospital in France. The teenage boy and the woman were operated on overnight. The man's life was not in danger at any point, officials said.
Monaco resident
Mr Thibault said: “To put some of the reported claims into perspective: the individual has been a Monaco resident since at least 2021; we have no investigation concerning him in Monaco and, to our knowledge, he is not being sought by any foreign authority.”
State Minister in Monaco
The explosion took place shortly before 9pm on Monday in the foyer of a residential building near the French border. The attacker fled on foot to France. He had dropped a package by the entrance of the building before leaving shortly before it detonated as the three people entered.
“French police from the neighbouring area also intervened to identify him and attempt to retrace his route,” Mr Thibault said. A blurry picture captured by CCTV of the suspect wearing a bob hat that hides his face has been broadcast by French TV.
The explosive device was thought to have contained bolts and pellets. Two other were injured by glass debris.
Shock waves
The attack comes has sent shock waves across Monaco, a quiet and tax-free microstate on the French Riviera known as a haven for billionaires and their luxury yachts.
Prince Albert of Monaco described the attack as “an odious act” and a “shock to the entire Monegasque community”. He said state services were working in close co-operation with French authorities.
French emergency services were sent to the scene and a joint police operation was under way to track down the fugitive, France's Interior Ministry said.
“No event of this nature has ever happened in the principality before,” said Christophe Mirmand, State Minister in Monaco.
Mr Yermolaiev is on a Ukrainian list of 84 oligarchs suspected of fleeing the country, daily newspaper Nice-Matin reported. He is believed to have continued to work with Russia after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, particularly in wine production – an allegation he has denied publicly.
He also reportedly co-owned an Estonian bank, suspended by the European Central Bank over of money laundering in 2018. About 87 per cent of its depositors were not Estonian residents, which sounded alarm bells at the country's Money Laundering Data Bureau.
Estonia is a primary target for Russian money laundering. Russian companies buy securities, transfer them to non-resident account holders at Estonian banks and then sell them to move the proceeds abroad.
In February, a person suspected of killing a former pro-Russian Ukrainian politician outside a school in a wealthy Madrid suburb in 2025 was arrested in Germany.
