French politician accuses Kiev of plotting assassination attempt on entrepreneur in Monaco

PARIS, June 30. /TASS/. The assassination attempt on businessman Vadim Yermolayev in Monaco was organized and financed by Vladimir Zelensky’s regime, Florian Philippot, the leader of the French Patriots party, believes.

"The Zelensky regime has clearly entered a new phase: it is now coming directly to our territory to carry out deadly attacks," the politician wrote on X.

He suggested that the attack on Yermolayev, who has been under Kiev's sanctions since 2023, may have been financed "directly by Zelensky" and that "Ukrainian special services" or "pro-Ukrainian extremist groups" may have been involved.

On June 29, media outlets reported an explosion in the entrance hall of a residential building in Monaco at 9 p.m. local time (7 p.m. GMT). Three victims are in serious condition; all are members of the same family. According to the country’s Minister of State (head of government) Christophe Mirmann, this marks the first such attack in Monaco’s history. According to the investigation, an unidentified man left a backpack at the building’s entrance; when the family members opened the door, an explosion was triggered. Preliminary reports indicate that the explosive device was filled with bolts and metal pellets.

The BFMTV channel states that one of the victims of the explosion is Vadim Yermolayev, a Cypriot citizen whom Ukrainian media had included on a list of the wealthiest Ukrainian businesspeople. Yermolayev renounced his Ukrainian citizenship in 2019. In 2023, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council imposed sanctions against him.