Bombing in Monaco Triggers Cross‑Border Manhunt, Injures Ukrainian Oligarch
A parcel bomb exploded at a residential building in Monaco on Monday evening, injuring Ukrainian businessman Vadym Yermolaiev and two others, and forcing Monaco’s police to launch a manhunt across the border with France.
The blast occurred shortly before 21:00 local time at 10 Rue Révérend Père Louis Frolla, a block of flats on the city’s eastern edge. Monaco’s public prosecutor, Stéphane Thibault, said the three victims are in critical condition in Nice, with a woman bearing the most serious injuries. He described the attack as an attempt at murder, not a deliberate terrorist act.
Yermolaiev—now a Cypriot citizen after renouncing his Ukrainian nationality in 2019—has been a prominent real‑estate developer in the Dnipro region and held business interests in Crimea’s wine and alcohol markets, leading to Kyiv sanctions in 2023. Forbes had named him the 39th richest Ukrainian in 2020.
Monaco’s government confirmed the explosion came from a parcel bomb and noted the device contained bolts and pellets. Security footage captured a man dropping a backpack in the building lobby moments before the blast.
The suspect allegedly fled toward the French commune of Beausoleil on foot. French and Monaco police have deployed more than 100 officers and emergency personnel to the scene, and a helicopter has remained above the area overnight. Monaco’s Prime Minister, Christophe Mirmand, told AFP that “this is the first time in history, to my knowledge, that such an act has taken place in the principality.”
Prince Albert II called it a “heinous crime” and a “shock to the entire Monaco community,” while French authorities promised a swift pursuit of the individual behind the attack. The investigation is ongoing, with international reporters monitoring the evolving story.
