Monaco bombing: Interpol names suspect who reportedly targeted Russia-linked Ukrainian tycoon

MONACO: Interpol on Friday named the suspect in the Monaco bombing that reportedly targeted a Ukrainian tycoon with links to Russia.

It identified Anastasiia Berezovska, a 39-year-old woman from Ukraine, as the suspect in a Red Notice posted on its website seeking her arrest.

Monaco authorities haven't identified any of the three people wounded in Monday's explosion at an apartment building entrance but said they are a family and that they appear to have been specifically targeted.


Media reports identified Ukrainian construction tycoon Vadym Yermolaiev as being among the wounded. He has said he renounced his Ukrainian citizenship nearly a decade ago, and he was targeted by Ukrainian sanctions in 2023 for ties to Russia.

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A woman and a child were also hurt. One of the victims is still in a life-threatening condition, prosecutors said Friday.

The Interpol notice says the suspect has a tattoo, possibly of a snake, on her right arm from the shoulder to the elbow. It says she was born in Ukraine, has dark hair, and speaks German.

Her arrest is sought by authorities in Monaco for attempted murder, placing an explosive device in a public place with criminal intent, and criminal conspiracy.

Morgan Raymond, the deputy prosecutor in Monaco, said the bomb was detonated from a distance, using a remote control. The remains of the bomb are being analyzed in France, he said.

He added that the suspect was initially identified as a heavily built person appearing to be male, wearing a dark long-sleeved top, light-colored shorts and a black bucket hat. A broader review of CCTV footage from previous days and testimony from a witness redirected the investigation toward a woman disguised as a man.

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Eric Arella, Monaco's director of public security, held up copies of the Interpol wanted notice at the news conference with the prosecutor.

Two photos included in the Interpol wanted notice for Berezovska show a woman wearing a white T-shirt with dark stripes, one of them in a street where she's holding what appears to be some sort of electronic device, trailing a cable, in her left hand.

The attack shocked the country on the Mediterranean coast, one of the world's smallest sovereign states known for its high concentration of wealthy residents. Monaco's Prince Albert II described it as "an odious act" and said all public services were mobilized to ensure security.

Ukraine is believed to have carried out attacks and targeted killings of Russian figures in the course of the war, although those attacks have largely been confined to Ukrainian or Russian territory.

In December 2024, Ukraine's security service claimed responsibility for killing the head of nuclear, biological and chemical military protection forces for the Russian military.

Western intelligence officials have recently said that Russia has ramped up a campaign of targeted killings since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.