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A major manhunt is underway in southern France after a parcel bomb exploded at a residential building in Monaco, seriously injuring a wealthy Ukrainian businessman and his family, in what authorities describe as a rare and shocking attack in the principality.
French media report that 58-year-old Vadym Yermolaiev, his wife, and their 13-year-old son were all injured in the explosion. The businessman and his partner are said to be in critical condition, and all three are being treated at a hospital in nearby Nice.
The explosion happened shortly before 9pm local time on Monday in a building on Rue Révérend Père Louis Frolla, close to the French border.
Monaco authorities said the device was delivered in the form of a parcel bomb and appeared to contain bolts and metal pellets, suggesting it was designed to cause maximum harm.
Security footage reportedly shows a man leaving a backpack inside the building’s lobby shortly before the blast. He was later seen fleeing on foot towards the nearby French town of Beausoleil, where a large police operation is now focused on locating him.
More than 100 police officers and emergency personnel were deployed to the scene.
One resident, who lives about 100 meters away, described hearing what she called an “unbelievably loud explosion” while she was in an underground car park, adding that emergency teams quickly arrived and pulled injured people from the building.
Officials in Monaco said the incident is believed to be the first of its kind in the country’s modern history.
“This is the first time in history, to my knowledge, that such an act has taken place in the principality,” said Christophe Mirmand, Monaco’s Minister of State.
Prince Albert II described the attack as a “heinous crime” that had shocked the entire country, adding that all relevant state services were fully mobilized in coordination with French authorities.
The target of the attack, Yermolaiev, is a Ukraine-born real estate developer originally from Dnipro, one of Ukraine’s largest cities, who had been living in Monaco in recent years.
He is also reported to have acquired Cypriot citizenship after renouncing his Ukrainian citizenship in 2019 — a detail that has drawn additional attention in Cyprus, where citizenship-by-investment cases involving high-net-worth individuals have often been under scrutiny in recent years.
Yermolaiev was listed by Forbes in 2020 among Ukraine’s richest individuals, with an estimated fortune of around $230 million.
He has previously been linked to business interests in sectors including real estate and alcohol production and has faced sanctions from Ukraine since 2023 over alleged commercial activity connected to Russian-annexed Crimea, allegations he has denied.
The investigation remains ongoing, with authorities in both France and Monaco working to identify the suspect and determine the motive behind the attack.
*Source: BBC
