Monaco Bomb Suspect Killed: Ukrainian Officers Arrested
A Ukrainian intelligence officer and a former law enforcement official have been arrested over the murder of the prime suspect in an unprecedented bombing attack in Monaco.
The mystery surrounding the assassination attempt deepened on Tuesday when Ukrainian prosecutors announced the indictment of two men for the intentional murder of Anastasiia Berezovska. The 39-year-old Ukrainian national had been identified by Interpol as the main perpetrator behind a blast targeting businessman Vadym Yermolaiev.
Police discovered Berezovska’s body with fatal gunshot wounds to the head alongside pistol casings. Authorities suspect she was killed by prior conspiracy shortly after returning to Ukraine by bus on July 1. Investigators linked the two detained men to the victim through a series of financial transactions.
Both suspects had repeatedly sent bank transfers and cryptocurrency payments to Berezovska before her death. These payments initially prompted police to investigate the men as potential co-conspirators in the Monaco bombing.
During urgent search operations, the active employee of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate confessed to shooting Berezovska. He told police he acted entirely on his own initiative and had kept his superiors unaware of both his communications and financial ties to the woman.
The intelligence officer also implicated the former law enforcement official as an accomplice. The investigation took a darker turn when police searched the former officer’s residence, where authorities reported finding a basement room resembling a torture chamber.
An unprecedented assassination attempt
Law enforcement agencies are continuing to search for other individuals who may have orchestrated the initial hit on Yermolaiev. The saga began last week when an explosive device detonated in the entranceway of an exclusive apartment complex in Monaco.
The blast injured the businessman, an unidentified woman and a 13-year-old child. Yermolaiev’s wife confirmed to the Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne that she was not present during the incident.
Monaco prosecutor Stéphane Thibault described the incident as an attempted assassination. It marks the first recorded bomb attack of its kind on the heavily surveilled streets of the affluent city-state.
Local authorities allege Berezovska disguised herself as a man to plant the device. Surveillance images reportedly showed her fleeing the scene wearing a black jumper and a bucket hat.
Prosecutors believe she escaped into neighbouring France before driving a rented German vehicle into Italy. The sophistication of the explosive device led investigators to conclude the operation required multiple perpetrators.
