The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) has issued a red notice for Anastasiia Berezovska, a 39-year-old Ukrainian national suspected of planting an explosive device that detonated outside a Monaco apartment building on June 30. The explosion reportedly targeted Vadym Yermolaiev, a Ukrainian-born construction magnate with alleged ties to Russia.
Berezovska is wanted on charges including attempted murder, depositing an explosive device with criminal intent, and criminal association. According to Interpol, she is described as a dark-haired, German-speaking woman who may have a snake tattoo on her arm.
Monaco public prosecutor Stéphane Thibault stated that the explosion injured a woman and a 13-year-old child, who media reports identify as members of Yermolaiev's family. While prosecutors have not officially named the victims, they confirmed multiple injuries.
Surveillance footage reviewed by investigators showed an individual, initially believed to be a man, casing the building in the days leading up to the incident. However, on June 28, a woman matching Berezovska's description was observed following the same reconnaissance patterns. Prosecutors believe this individual, Berezovska, then placed the explosive device on the building's entrance steps and triggered it remotely.
"The repeated reconnaissance operations and the pauses made in front of the building clearly demonstrate the intention to specifically target the three victims," said Deputy Prosecutor Morgan Raymond.
Investigators tracked the suspect's escape route across the Monaco-France border, through Italy, and into Germany, where authorities have begun searching for her. Her apartment in Frankfurt was raided on Thursday. Raymond indicated that the sophistication of the explosive device suggests the suspect may not have acted alone.
Yermolaiev, 58, renounced his Ukrainian citizenship in 2017 and became a Cypriot citizen in 2019. In 2023, the Ukrainian government sanctioned him for allegedly continuing to engage with Russia, paying taxes to Moscow, and facilitating business transactions through his liquor company in Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
