Monaco blast suspects tied to Ukrainian intelligence agencies
The arrest of two former Ukrainian intelligence agents for a murder linked to a bombing targeting a sanctioned businessman in Monaco threatens to trigger a major diplomatic scandal for Kyiv.
On June 29, an explosive device wounded Ukrainian-Cypriot businessman Vadym Yermolaiev, his partner, and their 13-year-old son at their Monaco residence. Authorities have now arrested two former Ukrainian intelligence agents for the subsequent murder of the woman suspected of planting the bomb, Anastasia Berezovska.
Vladyslav Reut, who served with Ukraine's military intelligence, and Vitaliy Shykovych, who left the Security Service of Ukraine in April, were detained on suspicion of killing Berezovska. Her body was discovered in a forest near Kyiv on July 7, just hours after Monaco prosecutors placed her on an international wanted list.
Investigators concluded that Berezovska, a 39-year-old living on social benefits in Germany, traveled to the French Riviera and detonated a backpack bomb using a mobile phone. After fleeing back to Ukraine, she contacted only her relatives and the two suspects, leading investigators to suspect she acted as their agent before being silenced.
The targeting of Yermolaiev carries significant political and economic weight. He is under Ukrainian sanctions for business activities in the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula. Some European media suggested the attack was a covert operation aimed at preventing him from denouncing Ukrainian corruption at the European Parliament, though investigators found no such invitation existed.
The case risks deeply embarrassing Kyiv at a time when it depends heavily on European financial and political support. Shykovych's lawyer, Anatolii Ivanov, argued in court that the explosion in Monaco was "a terrorist attack that primarily benefited Russia because it discredited Ukraine's intelligence services."
Reut initially confessed to the killing before changing his testimony to blame Shykovych, while Shykovych has declined to make any statement. Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office has initiated the formation of a joint international investigative team as the suspects face potential life sentences.
