A wealthy Ukrainian businessman, Vadym Yermolaiev, who was the target of a bombing incident in Monaco, has alleged that Ukraine’s military intelligence agency was responsible for the attack. The explosion, which occurred on June 29 at the Sun Palace apartment building where Yermolaiev resided with his family, resulted in severe injuries to all three occupants, with his partner reportedly losing her legs.
Yermolaiev, in his first public statement since the incident, released through his legal team, claimed that officers from Ukraine’s main intelligence directorate, known as HUR, were directly involved in the attempted assassination. Although no evidence was provided to support the accusation, Yermolaiev suggested that former or current high-ranking HUR officials were aware of the assassination plot.
The primary suspect in the bombing, Anastasiia Berezovska, was later found dead near Kyiv on July 6, with investigators determining that she had been shot. Subsequently, a Ukrainian military intelligence officer, Vladyslav Reut, along with co-defendant Vitalii Zhykovych from the SBU, Ukraine’s internal security agency, were charged with Berezovska’s murder. Both individuals have denied any involvement, with Reut initially confessing to the killing but later retracting his statement and implicating Zhykovych.
Yermolaiev, listed as the 39th wealthiest Ukrainian in Forbes’ 2020 rankings, amassed a substantial fortune through property development ventures. He had faced sanctions from Kyiv in 2023 due to his business interests in Russian-occupied Crimea. In his statement, Yermolaiev described the harrowing attack and emphasized the traumatic impact it had on his family.
A spokesperson for HUR, Andriy Yusov, dismissed Yermolaiev’s allegations as “subjective political statements” and cautioned that such claims could hinder the ongoing investigation into the bombing.