Interpol Names Ukrainian Woman in Monaco Bombing, Suspect Still at Large After German Apartment Raid

Since the June 30 parcel bombing outside a Monaco apartment building injured three members of a family, the investigation has moved fast. As of July 3, the suspect has a name, a face, and an Interpol Red Notice. She is still free.

Who Berezovska Is

Anastasiia Berezovska, 39, is a Ukrainian national who speaks German and had been living in the Main-Taunus district near Frankfurt, according to the Interpol notice posted Friday. She is described as dark-haired, possibly bearing a snake tattoo on her right arm from shoulder to elbow. She is wanted by Monaco on three counts: attempted murder, placing an explosive device in a public place with criminal intent, and criminal conspiracy.

For the first two days of the investigation, nobody knew they were looking for a woman. Monaco Deputy Prosecutor Morgan Raymond initially described the suspect in masculine terms at his first press conference, according to Fox News. Surveillance footage from the night of the attack showed a heavily built figure in a dark long-sleeved top, light shorts, and a black bucket hat. Raymond told reporters Friday that a broader review of CCTV from the days before the blast, combined with witness testimony, redirected investigators toward a woman who had been disguising herself as a man, according to Global News.

What She Did

Raymond laid out the sequence at Friday's news conference. Berezovska spent several days casing the building on rue Révérend-Père-Louis-Frolla, according to the BBC. On the night of June 30, she waited on a park bench for the family to return from dinner, then removed a parcel bomb from her bag and placed it on the entrance steps. She turned around to confirm the three victims were on the steps, then detonated it by remote control, Raymond said, as reported by Global News.

After the explosion, she fled on foot toward the neighboring French town of Beausoleil, then picked up a rental car and drove through Italy before entering Germany, according to the BBC. German special forces from Hesse state searched both her apartment and the vehicle Thursday. Evidence was seized and will be handed over to Monegasque authorities, police said, per Global News. The woman herself was gone.

The Target

Monaco authorities have declined to officially name the victims. Every major outlet covering the story — BBC, Fox News, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, and Global News — identifies the targets as Vadym Yermolaiev (also spelled Iermolaiev in some reports), his partner, and their 13-year-old son. Yermolaiev is a Ukrainian-born real estate developer whose company, the Alef Group, has interests in construction, agriculture, and vodka production. The Guardian estimates his personal fortune at $225 million.

Yermolaiev's partner remained in critical condition as of Friday's briefing, Raymond said, according to Al Jazeera. Two additional bystanders suffered minor injuries as collateral victims, prosecutors confirmed.

His backstory is complicated. Ukraine sanctioned Yermolaiev in 2023 after the SBU security agency alleged he continued trading alcohol in Russian-occupied Crimea and paid millions in taxes to the Russian treasury, according to The Guardian. Yermolaiev renounced his Ukrainian citizenship in 2018 and obtained Cypriot EU citizenship. He has publicly denied the allegations, telling RBK Media the Russia sanctions claims were "completely surreal" and that he donated money to Ukraine's armed forces.

The Accomplice Question

Investigators are examining whether Berezovska was a lone operative or a hired gun. Raymond was direct on Friday: "The relative sophistication of the explosive device and the modus operandi suggest that the person who planted the device did not act alone," according to multiple sources. Two unidentified men were taken into police custody earlier this week as part of the broader investigation, per Global News, though their status as of Friday's briefing was not confirmed.

Monaco's public prosecutor Stéphane Thibault credited the France-Monaco police cooperation for identifying Berezovska quickly. Prince Albert II called it an "odious act" and said all public services were mobilized.

What Remains Unanswered

The motive is unclear. Yermolaiev was sanctioned by Ukraine, not Russia, which runs counter to the theory that this was a Russian intelligence operation targeting a Ukrainian abroad. The Guardian noted that several sources it contacted dismissed the idea that Ukrainian intelligence was responsible, though none of those sources are named in the reporting. Nobody has claimed responsibility.

The bombing's bomb remnants are being analyzed in France, Raymond said, per Al Jazeera. That analysis, combined with whatever German police extracted from the Frankfurt apartment, will likely determine whether prosecutors can establish who gave Berezovska the device and the order.

Berezovska is considered armed and dangerous. The Interpol Red Notice covers all 196 member countries. Given that she has already crossed at least three national borders in 72 hours and her last confirmed location was a now-searched German apartment, the question of where she surfaced next remains the central one in this investigation.