A parcel bomb packed with bolts and pellets ripped through a residential building in Monaco on Monday night, leaving a Ukrainian oligarch, his wife and their 13-year-old son critically injured in what the principality’s government called a deliberate attack.
The explosion occurred shortly before 9pm local time on Rue Révérend Père Louis Frolla, a street near the border with France. The device appeared to contain bolts and shot, said Christophe Mirmand, Monaco’s minister of state, who described it as a “parcel bomb”. “This is likely an attack,” he added.
“Parcel bomb packed with bolts injures Ukrainian billionaire Vadym Yermolaiev, his wife and son in Monaco”
The three victims – Vadym Yermolaiev, a 58-year-old real estate billionaire once ranked the 23rd richest man in Ukraine by Forbes, his wife, and their teenage son – were taken to hospital in the nearby French city of Nice. The parents were in critical condition, fighting for their lives, while the boy’s injuries were serious but less severe. Four other people suffered shock and cuts from shattered glass.
CCTV footage showed a man dropping a backpack in the lobby of the building shortly before the blast. The suspect, wearing a black hat, white jeans and trainers, was seen fleeing on foot towards the French town of Beausoleil, just over the border. Police in both Monaco and France have identified him on video surveillance and are hunting for him.
Monaco’s Prince Albert II called the incident “an odious act” and “a shock to the entire Monaco community”. More than 100 police and emergency personnel were deployed to the scene. Mirmand said: “This is the first time in history, to my knowledge, that such an act has taken place in the principality.”
Yermolaiev, a construction tycoon, left Ukraine several years ago and was sanctioned by Kyiv in December 2023 for his ties to Russia. The motive for the attack remains under investigation, but authorities believe the oligarch was the target. A manhunt is under way, with French authorities cooperating in the search for the suspect.