Interpol have issued a worldwide alert over a Ukrainian woman suspected of planting a bomb in Monaco that injured three people, including a tycoon of Ukrainian origin.
Interpol's Red Notice identifies 39-year-old Anastasiia Berezovska as a suspect in a bombing on Monday in an apartment building in Monaco.
An individual left a package in the entrance hall of the building. Shortly afterwards, an explosive device detonated in the hall as three residents – a couple and a 13-year-old – were coming in.
Monaco authorities have not confirmed the victims' identities, but according to sources the attack targeted Vadym Yermolaiev, 58, a wealthy businessman originally from Ukraine and now a Cypriot national, as well as his partner and his son.
The latter was admitted in a non-critical condition to the Lenval children's hospital in Nice, while the two adults, who had life-threatening injuries, were taken to Nice University Hospital.
On Wednesday, the man's condition was reported to have improved, but the woman's had not yet stabilised.
Sanctions in Ukraine
A resident of Monaco since at least 2021, Yermolaiev has been the subject of sanctions in Ukraine since December 2023 over his business activities in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
Kyiv alleges he had an alcohol business in Crimea and was paying taxes to Moscow even after it invaded Ukraine in 2022.
According to Ukraine's National Security and Defence Counci’s State Sanctions Registry, Yermolaiev’s assets are blocked, his trade transactions and transit of resources through Ukraine are restricted, and he is barred from withdrawing capital from Ukraine.
A source told French news agency AFP that people would have been lining up to gun the construction magnate down in Dnipro, the industrial Ukrainian city where he made his wealth.
Shock in Monaco
France's Le Figaro newspaper and TV channel BFMTV said the suspect, who was captured on CCTV wearing a black fisherman's hat, is believed to be a woman who tried to pass herself off as a man.
Monaco's public prosecutor, Stephane Thibault, did not address this claim but in a statement praised Monaco's police forces and "effective international criminal cooperation, both police and judicial".
He said this had made it possible "to identify, in a particularly short time, the person suspected of having carried out the attack".
A judicial investigation for attempted murder and several other charges has been opened and entrusted to three investigating judges.
The bombing has sent shockwaves through Monaco, an ultra-secure city-state seen as a playground for the world's ultra-wealthy.
(with newswires)
