A 39-year-old Ukrainian woman, Anastasiia Berezovska—identified as the main suspect in a bomb attack targeting sanctioned Ukrainian oligarch Vadym Yermolayev in Monaco—was found dead with gunshot wounds to the head near Kyiv, according to Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and reports published on Telegram and by Ukrainska Pravda.
Attack in Monaco
The incident occurred on 29 June in Monaco, when an explosive device was placed at the entrance of a residential building where Yermolayev lived. The blast injured Yermolayev, his partner, and their 13-year-old son. Yermolayev, a billionaire under international sanctions, sustained serious injuries, as did his partner—whose injuries were reportedly the most severe.
Manhunt and Return to Ukraine
Berezovska had been the focus of an international manhunt after allegedly fleeing Monaco shortly after the attack. According to the BBC and Monaco prosecutors, she spent several days surveilling the target building before carrying out the attack—disguised as a man during the act. Authorities believed she fled first to Italy and then to Germany, where German police searched an apartment in Hesse rented by a 39-year-old Ukrainian woman described as being ‘on the run’.
Instead, Berezovska returned to Ukraine on 1 July—just two days after the bombing—and contacted her family, as well as two men: a former police officer and a serving officer from Ukraine’s Defense Ministry’s Central Intelligence Directorate.
Arrests and Alleged Confession
Both men were initially investigated as possible accomplices in the Monaco attack due to repeated financial transfers they made to Berezovska’s bank and cryptocurrency accounts. Later, the intelligence officer reportedly confessed to her murder, claiming he carried it out with another suspect. During a search of the former officer’s home, authorities discovered a basement room described as resembling a torture chamber.
Both suspects are now in custody, charged with premeditated murder committed by a group.