Ukrainian property tycoon Vadym Yermolaiev has accused Kyiv's military intelligence agency, known as HUR, of orchestrating a bombing attack in Monaco that severely injured his partner and son. The blast occurred on June 29 in the entrance hall of the Sun Palace apartment building, detonating a parcel bomb packed with bolts and pellets.
Yermolaiev stated through his lawyers, "Based on the investigative evidence available to us, we have no doubt that serving officers of the main intelligence directorate of the ministry of defence of Ukraine, commonly known as Hur, were directly involved in this attempted assassination." He also claimed that former or serving senior HUR officials were aware of the plot but did not provide specific evidence for his allegations.
The attack left Yermolaiev's partner, Anna Nasobina, with catastrophic and irreversible injuries, understood to be the loss of both legs. Their 13-year-old son sustained burns and fractures.
Yermolaiev, a multimillionaire property developer whose fortune was estimated at $230 million by Forbes in 2020, is currently in intensive care recovering from his injuries. He described the blast as an attempt to kill him and his family, noting its power was sufficient to tear through steel railings and destroy stone steps.
Interpol identified Anastasiia Berezovska, a 39-year-old Ukrainian citizen, as the prime suspect in the parcel bomb attack, labeling her "armed and dangerous." Berezovska was found shot dead near Kyiv on July 6.
Vladyslav Reut, identified as a current HUR officer, was charged with Berezovska's murder and appeared in a Kyiv court last week alongside his co-defendant, Vitalii Zhykovych. Zhykovych, who until recently worked for Ukraine's SBU security service, has also denied guilt. Reut initially confessed to killing Berezovska but later retracted his statement, blaming Zhykovych, an allegation denied by Zhykovych's lawyer.
In response to Yermolaiev's accusations, Andriy Yusov, a HUR spokesman, denied the claims, calling them "subjective political statements" that could impede the investigation into the bombing. Yermolaiev has been under Ukrainian sanctions since 2023 due to business interests in Russian-occupied Crimea.
The allegations are likely to prompt scrutiny from Western allies regarding the potential involvement of a HUR officer in the killing of the prime suspect in the Monaco attack.