A woman linked to a Ukrainian billionaire is fighting for her life after reportedly having both legs blown off in a parcel bomb attack in Monaco that also injured the oligarch and their teenage son.
The blast ripped through the foyer of an apartment block on Rue Révérend Père Louis Frolla, near the French border, shortly before 21:00 local time on Monday. Monaco’s government said the device appeared to contain bolts and pellets, according to the head of government, Christophe Mirmand.
“Woman has both legs amputated after parcel bomb attack on Ukrainian oligarch Vadym Yermolaiev in Monaco; manhunt under way.”
Vadym Yermolaiev, 58, a wealthy real estate tycoon who relocated to Monaco after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, suffered multiple shrapnel wounds but is no longer in a life-threatening condition. His partner – initially thought to be his wife Anna but later reported by French sources not to be Anna – underwent surgery to amputate her legs and remains in a critical state in a hospital in Nice. The couple’s 13-year-old son sustained the least serious injuries.
Monaco’s public prosecutor, Stéphane Thibault, said two of the three victims are in critical condition, with a woman the most seriously hurt. Four other people were treated for shock and cuts from debris. Thibault said the incident is being treated as attempted murder, not a terrorist attack.
A manhunt is under way in southern France after the suspect fled on foot towards the French commune of Beausoleil. CCTV footage shows a man dropping a backpack in the lobby shortly before the explosion, French newspaper Le Figaro reported. Mirmand told BFM TV the suspect appeared to have left for France.
Harri Richie, who lives about 100 metres from the targeted building, told the BBC she heard an “unbelievably loud explosion” from an underground car park. She went to her 11th-floor apartment and saw emergency services “dragging two people out who looked badly injured”. A British resident nearby told the Mirror: “We heard a big commotion outside, and then there was a procession of police cars heading off.”
Monaco’s Prince Albert II described the incident as a “heinous crime” and a “shock to the entire Monaco community”. Mirmand said: “This is the first time in history, to my knowledge, that such an act has taken place in the principality.”
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said its embassy in France was in touch with Monaco’s authorities and working to officially identify those injured. More than 100 police and emergency personnel were deployed to the scene. The search for the suspect continues.