Ukrainian Tycoon Vadym Iermolaiev Injured in Monaco Bomb Attack

Fresh footage has been released of the moment a Ukrainian property tycoon and two others were injured in a bomb attack in Monaco. Tycoon Vadym Iermolaiev was left fighting for life after the explosion at the start of June, with a 13 year-old boy and a woman also injured in what authorities believe was an attempted assassination.

Ukraine’s prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko released footage of the incident as he reported an investigation was underway to obtain new evidence in the case of “attempted murder”. The video showed a hooded figure appearing to drop a backpack full of explosives on the steps of Mr Iermolaiev’s Monaco home. As they walked away, the property tycoon could be seen walking towards the property with two others when a purple flash erupted as the explosion took place.

The prosecutor general said in a statement on Telegram: “Thanks to the professional work of specialists from the Security Service of Ukraine, it was possible to restore one of the key pieces of evidence that the suspects tried to destroy.

“This is a video recording from a surveillance camera that the perpetrators had previously installed near the crime scene in order to obtain confirmation of the order. Despite the fact that this evidence was deleted, SBU specialists were able to restore it.

“I would like to thank the operatives of the SBU, the National Police, investigators and prosecutors for their professional and coordinated work.

“We continue to work to establish all the circumstances of the crime, the role of each person involved and to bring the perpetrators to justice. No piece of evidence will be left out of the investigation.”

A Ukrainian woman suspected of being behind the bomb attack was found shot dead near Kyiv, Ukrainian prosecutors said last week. The body of Anastasiia Berezovska, 39, was discovered at around 11pm local time on 6 July (9pm BST), law enforcement sources told Ukrainska Pravda.

Days after the attack, Mr Iermolaiev’s wife revealed she was not the woman reportedly injured in the blast. A woman, initially reported to be the Iermolaiev’s wife Anna, had her legs amputated after the blast according to newspaper Ukrainska Pravda. She has since come forward to say she was not with her husband at the time of the attack.

She told Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne: “We are currently in a state of severe stress and are actively cooperating with the investigation and law enforcement agencies.”

Mr Iermolaiev is deemed to be one of a number of wealthy Ukrainians who fled his country following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He was sanctioned by Volodymyr Zelensky in 2023, who imposed a 10-year sanctions package over allegations tied to his alcohol business operations in Russia-occupied Crimea.

Mr Iermolaiev has strongly denied the allegations in an interview and called it “completely surreal”, claiming that Russia seized his grape-growing and cognac business in Crimea after annexing the peninsula in 2014.

“We lost everything,” he said, adding that he had hired a team of lawyers to seek the removal of the sanctions imposed against him.