Summary:
Ukrainian investigators have identified the woman who placed the parcel bomb that targeted businessman Vadym Yermolaiev and his family in Monaco on 29 June. The suspect, Anastasiia Berezovska, was later found shot dead near Kyiv. Two men, one of them an active officer in Ukraine’s military intelligence service, have been detained in connection with her killing. Financial transfers between the pair and Berezovska have led Ukrainian authorities to examine them as the organisers of the Monaco attack. Yermolaiev has formally accused Ukrainian military intelligence of responsibility for the bombing. Officials in Kyiv maintain that the officer acted without authorisation in the suspect’s death and have proposed a joint investigative team with Monaco. Recovered surveillance footage, recorded on a camera the attackers themselves had planted at the scene, now forms part of the evidence under review.
Detailed Report
1. Background: The 29 June Attack in Monaco
On 29 June 2026 a parcel bomb detonated at the entrance of a luxury residential building in Monaco, seriously injuring Ukrainian-born businessman Vadym Yermolaiev, his partner and their 13-year-old son. Monaco authorities classified the incident as attempted murder. Full details of the attack, the injuries sustained and the initial investigation are available in our earlier cable here.
2. Attackers’ Own Camera Footage Recovered by Ukrainian Authorities
On 17 July Ukraine’s Prosecutor General, Ruslan Kravchenko, announced that specialists from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) had recovered deleted surveillance footage of the Monaco attack. According to the Prosecutor General, the camera had been installed near the scene by the perpetrators themselves in order to obtain confirmation that the attack had been carried out. The footage was subsequently deleted; SBU technical experts restored it. The video shows an individual placing an object at the building entrance, the approach of three people consistent with Yermolaiev and his family, and the explosion. Ukrainian authorities described the material as a key piece of evidence the suspects had sought to destroy.
3. Primary Suspect Identified, Then Found Shot Dead Near Kyiv
Monaco investigators, working with French counterparts and Interpol, identified the person who placed the device as Anastasiia Berezovska, a 39-year-old Ukrainian national whose last known residence was in Germany. Initial surveillance had suggested a male suspect; later information indicated she had disguised herself as a man. On 3 July Interpol issued a Red Notice for Berezovska on charges of attempted murder, placing an explosive device in a public place and criminal conspiracy. Monaco’s deputy prosecutor stated at the time that she had not acted alone.
Berezovska re-entered Ukraine by bus from Poland on 1 July. On 3 July — the same day the Interpol notice was issued — she was killed near the village of Yuriv in Kyiv Oblast. She was shot multiple times in the head from behind and her body buried nearby. The body was located several days later after one of the suspects led investigators to the site. The SBU publicly confirmed the discovery and the circumstances of the killing.
4. Military Intelligence Officer Among Two Men Detained
Two men were detained on suspicion of murdering Berezovska: Vladyslav Reut, an active officer of Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU), and Vitalii Zhykovych, a former law-enforcement officer. Investigators established that both men had repeatedly transferred funds to Berezovska by cryptocurrency and bank transfer in the period preceding the Monaco attack. Ukrainian authorities have indicated that these financial links form the basis for regarding the pair as organisers of the bombing itself.
On 9 July the Pechersk District Court in Kyiv remanded both men in custody without bail. In open court the prosecutor stated that Zhykovych had recruited Reut, that the two collected Berezovska and drove her to a wooded area near Yuriv, and that she was shot in the back of the head. The prosecutor characterised the motive for her killing as personal. Reut initially confessed and directed investigators to the grave but later recanted in court, claiming Zhykovych fired the shots. The two men have so far been charged primarily with Berezovska’s murder; the investigation into their alleged role in the Monaco attack continues.
5. Yermolaiev Accuses Ukrainian Military Intelligence of Orchestrating the Attack
In mid-July lawyers acting for Vadym Yermolaiev released a letter in which he accused Ukrainian security services, and specifically the military intelligence agency, of organising the explosion in an attempt to assassinate him and his family. The letter requested protection for the family. Yermolaiev stated that he remained hospitalised, that his partner had suffered irreversible injuries, and that their son had sustained burns and fractures. The same letter thanked President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for personal attention to the case and for unspecified assistance.
6. Official Positions Diverge as Ukraine Proposes Joint Investigation
Ukrainian authorities have framed the killing of Berezovska as an individual act. The SBU stated that the military intelligence officer involved claimed he had acted without the knowledge or authorisation of his superiors. No official admission of institutional responsibility for the Monaco attack has been issued.
Around 10 July Prosecutor General Kravchenko held consultations with his Monaco counterpart. He informed the Monaco side of the progress of the Ukrainian investigation, stressed Ukraine’s readiness for full cooperation, and proposed the rapid creation of a joint international investigative team. Monaco continues to treat the original incident as attempted murder rather than terrorism.
Conclusion
The investigation into the 29 June attack on Vadym Yermolaiev now spans Monaco, France and Ukraine. The primary suspect is dead, two men including an active Ukrainian military intelligence officer are in custody in connection with her killing, and financial evidence has prompted Ukrainian investigators to examine those men as organisers of the bombing. Yermolaiev has formally accused Ukrainian military intelligence of responsibility. Ukrainian officials reject any institutional role in the suspect’s death and have offered structured cooperation with Monaco. Motives for both the Monaco attack and the subsequent killing of the suspect remain unresolved.