Monaco bomb suspect found shot dead in Ukraine as two charged with murder

The prime suspect in a parcel bombing that injured a sanctioned Ukrainian multi-millionaire in Monaco has been found dead in a forest near Kyiv with gunshot wounds to the head, Ukraine's security service (SBU) has said. Anastasiia Berezovska, 39, was wanted after a booby-trapped backpack exploded in the entrance hall of a luxury apartment building on 29 June, wounding seven people, including tycoon Vadym Iermolaiev, his partner Anna Nasobina – who lost both legs – and a 13-year-old boy. The blast was the first bomb assassination attempt recorded in the principality. Berezovska fled to Italy in a hire car after the attack, disguised as a man, but returned to Ukraine on 1 July, two days later. There, the SBU said, she communicated with two men – a current officer in Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence and a former law enforcement officer – who had repeatedly transferred funds to her crypto and bank accounts. On 3 July, the two suspects met Berezovska in a car on a highway in the Kyiv region. "The victim traveled a certain distance with them, after which she was killed," the office of Ukraine's prosecutor general told the BBC. The intelligence officer confessed to the murder, saying he had acted with "another suspect" on his own initiative without informing superiors. Both men have been charged with "intentional murder committed by prior conspiracy by a group of persons". During a search of the former officer's home, investigators found a basement room "resembling a torture chamber", the SBU said. A video released by the prosecutor general showed a pink mat dotted with what appear to be small spots of blood, two axes, a pickaxe, tarpaulin and a large bag. Ukraine's prosecutor general said there was "no evidence" the room was involved in Berezovska's case and that it "simply reflect[s] the profile of one of the suspects". The attack targeted Iermolaiev, a real estate developer and one of Ukraine's richest men, who was sanctioned by Kyiv for allegedly selling wine in Russian-occupied Crimea. A $150,000 (£112,000) bounty had reportedly been offered for his assassination. Berezovska, from the Luhansk region, had entered Germany as a refugee after Russia's invasion and speaks fluent German. Her body was found with pistol casings nearby. The investigation continues as to whether the two men were also accomplices in the Monaco attack.