A Ukrainian woman has been identified as the main suspect for a parcel bombing in Monaco that seriously wounded a sanctioned Ukrainian multi-millionaire and two others.
An Interpol Red Notice has been issued for Anastasiia Berezovska, 39, who speaks German and is wanted for attempted murder, placing an explosive device on a public road with criminal intent, and criminal conspiracy.
Police are looking into identifying any possible accomplices.
On Monday, an individual left a package in the entrance of a hall of a small apartment building before an explosion happened shortly afterwards.
CCTV cameras pictured the individual in a dark bucket hat, who was at first believed to be a man.
The following explosion happened just as three residents were entering, a couple and a 13-year-old.
The suspect was then seen fleeing towards the French commune of Beausoleil.
The prosecutor thanked police from Monaco and France for their co-operation which made it possible “to identify, in a particularly short time, the person suspected of having carried out the attack.”
Monaco’s Prince Albert II described the incident as a “heinous crime”.
The three victims, who included a 13-year-old, have been treated in hospital.
The adults were seriously wounded and taken to the Nice University Hospital (CHU), while the child, who suffered minor injuries, was admitted in a non-critical condition to the Lenval children’s hospital in Nice.
On Wednesday, the man was no longer in a life-or-death situation, but the woman’s condition had not yet stabilised, AFP reports.
The victims’ identities have not been confirmed by Monaco authorities, but according to local reports, the attack targeted Vadym Yermolaiev, his partner and his son.
Yermolaiev, 58, is a wealthy real estate developer, who has been living in Monaco. He is a Cypriot citizen after renouncing his Ukrainian citizenship in 2019.
He has big interests in the wine and alcohol business in Russian-annexed Crimea, and since 2023 has been the subject of sanctions imposed by the government in Kyiv.
He was named the 39th richest Ukrainian by Forbes magazine in 2020, with a fortune of $230m (£173.8m).
