Monaco blast probably perpetrated by Ukrainian woman residing in Germany — newspaper

PARIS, July 3. /TASS/. An explosion at an apartment building in Monaco, which injured three people, including Ukrainian businessman Vadim Yermolayev, was probably carried out by a 30-year-old Ukrainian woman residing in Germany, the Le Figaro newspaper wrote, citing an anonymous source.

According to the article, the woman fled towards the commune of Beausoleil in southern France and later crossed into a neighboring country from there. France Info believes that the suspect has fled to Italy.

Earlier, the BFMTV broadcaster reported with reference to a source that the suspect is currently staying in an undisclosed European country.

On June 29, an explosion occurred in the entrance of an apartment building in Monaco. According to BFMTV, one of the three injured is Yermolayev, a citizen of Cyprus, whom the media included on the list of the wealthiest Ukrainian businessmen. It was reported that he owned a network of fraudulent call centers in Ukraine. Yermolayev renounced his Ukrainian citizenship in 2019. In 2023, Kiev imposed sanctions against him.

The Monaco Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation into the incident in connection with an "attempted murder." According to Le Figaro, a source said that the investigators are inclined to believe that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) is behind this crime. According to the publication Comments.ua, the SBU could have staged an assassination attempt on Yermolayev to take control of the call centers associated with him in Dnepropetrovsk and even broader shadow business processes in the city, as well as to prevent his possible interference in politics in the future.