Interpol has issued a global arrest notice for a Ukrainian woman accused of carrying out a sophisticated parcel bombing in Monaco earlier this week that seriously injured a wealthy Ukrainian-born businessman, his partner and their 13-year-old son. The suspect, Anastasiia Berezovska, 39, had disguised herself as a man to carry out the attack, Monaco's deputy prosecutor Morgan Raymond confirmed. She remains at large after fleeing across multiple European countries.
The explosion occurred on Monday evening just before 9pm local time, when the three victims were entering the lobby of a small apartment building near the Boulevard d'Italie, close to Monaco's border with France. Monaco is one of the world's smallest sovereign states, known for its dense population of ultra-wealthy residents. According to investigators, Berezovska left a package in the entrance hall and detonated it remotely when the victims arrived, before fleeing on foot into France and picking up a hire car registered in Germany. She is believed to have travelled through Italy and other European countries before returning to Germany, where she was subsequently spotted in Frankfurt. German police in the state of Hesse searched her rented apartment and vehicle in the Main-Taunus district, securing evidence to be handed over to Monegasque authorities, but she had already fled.
The presumed target of the attack is Vadym Iermolaiev — also reported as Yermolaiev — a 58-year-old businessman originally from Ukraine who holds Cypriot citizenship and has been resident in Monaco since at least 2021. Forbes Ukraine estimated his fortune at between $220m and $230m. He has been subject to Ukrainian government sanctions since December 2023 over allegations that he continued conducting business, including in the wine and alcohol sector, in Russian-annexed Crimea — the Ukrainian peninsula seized by Russia in 2014 — even after Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. His adult son Artur was convicted of fraud in Estonia this year after pleading guilty to running an investment scam that netted around €100m. The two adults sustained life-threatening injuries; surgeons are reported to have amputated both of the woman's legs. The child was admitted to a children's hospital in Nice in a non-critical condition.
Surveillance footage initially suggested the attacker was a heavyset man wearing a dark bucket hat, long-sleeved top and light-coloured shorts. Closer analysis of CCTV images and witness accounts led investigators to conclude the suspect was a woman in disguise. An Interpol Red Notice — a formal request to the organisation's 196 member countries to locate and detain an individual — describes Berezovska as German-speaking with dark shoulder-length hair and a tattoo, possibly of a snake, running from her right shoulder to her elbow. Two suspects detained in Monaco earlier in the week were released after no evidence linking them to the attack was found.
Given the complexity of the explosive device and the coordinated nature of the escape route, prosecutors believe Berezovska likely did not act alone and are actively investigating possible accomplices. Monaco's Prince Albert II condemned what he called an "odious" and "heinous" act, saying all public services had been mobilised in response. The attack has shaken the tiny principality, and investigators from Monaco and France are working in close cooperation to locate the suspect before she moves beyond reach.