Yermolayev accused the Main Intelligence Directorate of plotting to assassinate him and his family in Monaco
This has been reported by the French newspaper *Nice-Matin*, which quotes a statement issued by the businessman’s lawyers.
Yermolayev claims to have familiarised himself with the investigation files relating to the assassination attempt. According to him, the information he received allegedly led him to conclude that current GUR staff were directly involved in planning the attack.
The businessman also suggested that people close to the current or former leadership of Ukrainian military intelligence may have been involved in organising the assassination attempt. The statement does not provide any specific names, positions or evidence to support these claims.
Yermolaev separately thanked President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for his personal attention to the case and for his assistance. He emphasised that his allegations were not directed against Ukraine or Ukrainians.
The Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) and the Office of the President have not yet responded publicly to these statements. The Monaco investigative authorities have also not reported that they have identified those who ordered the explosion or proven the involvement of the Ukrainian security services.
A child was injured in the explosion
The explosion took place on 29 June near the entrance to a residential building in Monaco. The explosive device had been concealed in a rucksack and left in front of the building as Yermolayev, his companion and his son were approaching it. The principality’s authorities are investigating the incident as an attempted murder rather than a terrorist attack.
According to Yermolayev’s account, the perpetrators detonated the device only after they saw a woman and a 13-year-old child standing next to him. The businessman believes that the attackers intended to kill all three of them.
A statement from his lawyers claims that Yermolayev’s companion suffered severe, irreversible injuries, whilst his son sustained burns, fractures and other injuries. The businessman himself, according to his representatives, remains in intensive care. No independent medical confirmation of these details has been made public.
Yermolaev has called on the authorities in Monaco, France and Ukraine to protect his family and to identify not only the perpetrators but also those who ordered the attack.
What links the case to a GUR employee
The investigation has named 39-year-old Ukrainian citizen Anastasia Berezovska as the main suspect in planting the explosive device. Interpol has issued a warrant for her arrest on suspicion of attempted murder, planting an explosive device in a public place and participating in a criminal conspiracy.
After fleeing Monaco via several European countries, Berezovska returned to Ukraine. She was later found shot dead in a forest near Kyiv.
A Ukrainian court has remanded two men in custody on suspicion of her murder. One of them is a serving officer with the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR), whilst the other previously worked in law enforcement. The suspects are accusing each other, and the investigation has not yet established a motive for the murder.
The mere fact that a GUR officer has been arrested in connection with Berezovskaya’s murder does not prove that Ukrainian military intelligence organised the explosion in Monaco. It has also not yet been established whether the suspect acted alone, who might have ordered the attack, or whether her death and the attempt on Yermolaev’s life are linked as part of a single plot. Investigators in Monaco have stated that they are considering various theories and have not reached any definitive conclusions regarding the motive or the origin of the explosives.
What is known about Yermolayev
Vadym Yermolayev is a businessman originally from Dnipro and the founder of the ‘Alef’ group, which operated in the sectors of property, the production of building materials and agribusiness. In 2019, he renounced his Ukrainian citizenship and acquired Cypriot citizenship.
In December 2023, Ukraine imposed sanctions against him. Ukrainian law enforcement agencies accused companies linked to the businessman of continuing business activities in the occupied territory of Crimea and paying taxes to the Russian budget. Yermolayev himself denied these allegations.
The investigation into the explosion is being led by Monaco’s law enforcement agencies, with the participation of their French and Ukrainian counterparts. The instigator of the attack has not yet been officially named.
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