A remotely detonated explosive device wounded three members of a family at the entrance to their apartment building in Monaco on the evening of 29 June, Monegasque prosecutors have confirmed. The blast, which occurred in the Rue du Révérend Père Louis Frolla near the French border, left a 58-year-old man, his partner and their 13-year-old son injured. While the principality’s authorities have not officially released the victims’ identities, multiple European media reports identify the man as Vadym Yermolaiev, a Ukrainian-born construction magnate who holds Cypriot citizenship and has resided in Monaco since at least 2021.

Within 53 hours of the explosion, investigators identified the chief suspect as Anastasiia Berezovska, a 39-year-old Ukrainian national whose last known address was in Germany. An Interpol Red Notice, issued at Monaco’s request, lists her as wanted for attempted murder, placing an explosive device in a public place with criminal intent, and criminal conspiracy. The notice describes her as having dark hair, speaking German, and bearing a tattoo—possibly of a snake—on her right arm from shoulder to elbow. German police confirmed they searched her rented flat in the Main-Taunus district near Frankfurt and seized a vehicle, but the suspect remains at large.

Monegasque deputy prosecutor Morgan Raymond told a press conference that the attacker had conducted reconnaissance of the area in the days before the bombing, initially appearing on surveillance footage as a heavyset person in a dark bucket hat and light-coloured shorts, leading investigators to believe they were searching for a man. A witness statement and a review of additional CCTV recordings, however, revealed a woman with shoulder-length dark hair following the same patterns, prompting the conclusion that the suspect had disguised herself as a man. On the night of the attack, she waited on a bench, placed the device on the building’s steps as the family returned from dinner, and detonated it by remote control before fleeing on foot into the French commune of Beausoleil. From there, investigators traced her route: she retrieved a car rented in Germany and drove through Italy, possibly via Ventimiglia, before returning to Germany.

Prosecutors have said the relative sophistication of the device and the method of operation suggest the suspect did not act alone. Two men detained in Monaco earlier in the week were released without charge. The motive remains unconfirmed, though French and German media note that Yermolaiev was sanctioned by Kyiv in 2023 over business activities in Russian-annexed Crimea and that he renounced his Ukrainian citizenship in 2019. Medical sources report that the man’s condition has stabilised, while the woman remains in a life-threatening state. The investigation, led by Monegasque judicial authorities with cooperation from French, German and Italian police, is ongoing.