Bomb explosion in Monaco leaves injured; Ukrainian oligarch was targeted

The police of Monaco and France carried out searches, this Tuesday (30), for a man suspected of detonating a homemade bomb in Monaco that left several people injured, according to a local authority; At the same time, the French and Ukrainian press reported that the target of the attack was a Ukrainian-born oligarch.

At least two of the victims suffered life-threatening injuries in the attack that occurred on Monday night (29), Christophe Mirmand, Minister of State of Monaco, told BFM TV.

BFM TV and the newspaper Le Figaro reported that the target of the attack was Vadym Yermolaiev, a major real estate developer in Dnipro. He left Ukraine a few years ago, renounced his Ukrainian citizenship and became a citizen of Cyprus.

Yermolaiev was added to Ukraine's sanctions list in December 2023.

French emergency services were mobilized to the scene to provide support, and a joint police operation was underway to locate the fugitive, the French Interior Ministry said.

"An event of this nature has never occurred in the Principality before," Mirmand told the French news channel.

The explosion occurred shortly before 9pm (local time) on Monday (29) in the center of Monaco, a microstate with a privileged fiscal regime on the French Riviera, known as a haven for billionaires and their luxury yachts.

Scenes from the morning showed damage caused by the explosion to the facade of an apartment building, with police and forensic teams working nearby.

The French newspaper *Le Figaro* reported that video surveillance footage showed a man leaving a backpack at the entrance of a residential building shortly before the explosion.

BFM TV described the explosive device as a "package bomb", citing the principality's attorney general, while Prince Albert of Monaco called the attack "a heinous act".

Source: CNN