Police are hunting a man suspected of detonating a makeshift bomb in Monaco believed to have targeted a Ukrainian-born oligarch.
Two of the three people hit by the blast on Monday evening suffered life-threatening injuries, said Christophe Mirmand, Monaco's Minister of State.
The explosion was in the foyer of a residential building near the French border. The attacker fled to France, Mr Mirmand said.
French and Ukrainian media said the target of the attack was Vadym Yermolaiev, who was a major property developer in Dnipro. He left Ukraine several years ago, renounced his Ukrainian citizenship and became a citizen of Cyprus. He was placed under Ukrainian sanctions in December 2023.
The three injured people have been taken to hospital in the southern French city of Nice. They include a teenage boy, believed to be Mr Yermolaiev's son, and a woman. Local media reported that the explosion tore off part of her legs.
Mr Mirmand said it was "likely a terrorist attack". The explosive device was thought to have contained bolts and pellets, he added.
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,” Mr Mirmand said.
The blast occurred shortly before 9pm local time on Monday in the centre of Monaco, a tax-free microstate on the French Riviera known as a haven for billionaires and their luxury yachts. Le Figaro said surveillance video showed a man dropping a backpack at the entrance of a residential building shortly before the explosion.
BFM TV described the explosive device as a “parcel bomb” in a report that quoted the principality's prosecutor general.
Mr Yermolaiev is on a Ukrainian list of 84 oligarchs suspected to have fled the country. 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 publicly denied.
He also co-owned an Estonian bank, which was suspended by the European central bank in 2018 for money laundering, Nice-Matin reported. 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.
