The wife of a Ukrainian oligarch targeted in a bomb attack in Monaco has said she was not the woman injured in the blast, correcting earlier reports that identified her as a victim.
The explosion, linked in reports to an alleged €100million call centre fraud scheme, left 56-year-old Vadym Yermolaiev critically injured. Initial accounts had also claimed his wife, Anna, 56, was in a serious condition.
Ukrainian media later reported that the injured woman was someone else and that she had suffered devastating injuries, including the amputation of limbs and her legs.
Ms Yermolaiev was at a different location when the explosion happened at around 9pm on Monday, according to Ukrainian state broadcaster Suspilne.
Speaking to the outlet, she said: ‘We are currently in a state of severe stress and are actively cooperating with the investigation and law enforcement agencies.’
The identity of the injured woman has not been confirmed. Reports say her 13-year-old son was also taken to hospital, where his condition was described as ‘stable’.
Ms Yermolaiev is not believed to have a 13-year-old child; her youngest child, David, is reportedly due to turn 17 this year.
French newspaper Le Figaro, citing a source close to the case, reported that the boy was hurled almost 50ft by the blast, and that his mother may have been injured while attempting to shield him.
The attack left Vadym Yermolaiev, 56, fighting for his life, and initial reports suggested that his wife Anna, 56, (pictured) was also in a critical condition, having had her feet blown off
However, Ukrainian media today reported it was another woman, not Anna (pictured) who was injured in the blast and ‘had limbs including her legs amputated’
Pictured: Victim Vadym Yermolaiev – a Ukrainian oligarch – suffered multiple shrapnel wounds after a backpack full of nuts and bolts exploded in the foyer of his apartment block in Monaco, according to local reports
The woman is now being treated at a hospital in Nice, Christophe Mirmand, the minister of state for Monaco, told French news broadcaster LCI.
Mr Yermolaiev suffered multiple shrapnel wounds after a backpack full of nuts and bolts exploded in the foyer of his apartment block in Monaco, according to local reports.
The three victims were ‘apparently returning home peacefully’ in the early evening, according to surveillance footage, Christophe Mirmand, the minister of state for Monaco said.
‘They were caught in the explosion as they crossed the threshold of their apartment building,’ he said.
‘It appears that the family was specifically targeted,’ he emphasised.
Monaco public prosecutor Stephane Thibault said as of Tuesday the man had been stabilised, but the woman’s condition remained ‘life-threatening’.
He said the blast was being investigated as ‘attempted murder’ but was not being considered as a ‘terrorist’ act.
Ukrainian police sources have claimed that the violent attack is directly linked to a network of fraudulent call centres in Dnipro, Ukraine, allegedly used to carry out large-scale financial scams across Europe.
According to sources, the so-called ‘boiler room’ operations defrauded thousands of investors in Germany, Estonia and Ukraine of more than €100million (£86million) between 2019 and 2022, through fake cryptocurrency investment schemes.
The network also allegedly sold fraudulent divorce advice to unsuspecting victims.
Ukrainian law enforcement sources say that French investigators believe the murder attempt may have been orchestrated by members of a criminal network in retaliation.
The Yermolaiev family is alleged to have played a significant role in the scheme, with the oligarch’s name reportedly at the centre of a sprawling pan-European investigation into clandestine call centres operating out of Ukraine.
Mr Thibault declined to say who was the presumed target of the blast, while Monaco’s Minister of State Christophe Mirmand said he was not aware of any specific threats against Mr Yermolaiev.
Officers in Monaco and neighbouring France are hunting for a man in a black fisherman’s hat who appeared in surveillance footage after leaving a package in a residential building near the border, authorities said.
‘A suspect was seen on video surveillance fleeing towards the municipality of Beausoleil in France,’ the Monaco government wrote on X.
Ukrainian outlet Ukrainska Pravda reported that the attempted assassination stemmed from a failed agreement to divide territory and unpaid debts allegedly owed to organised crime bosses in Dnipro.
While Vadym, who is currently subject to sanctions in Ukraine, handled the financial side of the operation, it was his son, Artur, who reportedly ran the network.
According to local reports, Artur was arrested by Interpol in Cyprus at the end of 2025 following an Estonian arrest warrant.
Shards of glass on a damaged window of a residential building, following an explosion on Monday, in Monaco, June 30
Members of a bomb disposal team operate the day after an alleged attack involving an explosive device in the lobby of a residential building, in Monaco on June 30
Images of the man who targeted them at the iconic Sun Palace flats were captured on CCTV, and he is still at large
He was given a suspended prison sentence and millions of euros in criminal assets were confiscated.
Both Yermolaievs deny any wrongdoing, saying all of their business activities are above board.
Vadym, who made his fortune in commerce following the collapse of the Soviet Union, has made a huge number of enemies since fleeing his native Ukraine around a decade ago.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky authorised sanctions against him in December 2023, because his drinks business in the occupied Crimea was still doing business with Russia.
He produces a ‘geographically protected Crimean wine for the Russians’, which is still sold in Europe and the US, said an investigating source.
Vadym is also a co-owner of Versobank, an Estonian bank which had its licence suspended by the European Central Bank in March 2018 for the ‘systematic violation of anti-money laundering legislation’.
In recent years, the family has been living in luxury in Monaco, where they have a very high profile.
Vadym was known for parking his Ukrainian-registered Bentley outside the Monte Carlo Casino.
He also owned a super-yacht flying the Ukrainian flag and owned a high-security villa in nearby Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat.
Vadym has stated that the Ukrainian tax system is ‘very unfair’, and this prompted him to take Cypriot nationality in 2019.
The explosion occurred around 9pm on Monday at the entrance of a residence near the French border.
Emergency services treated four other people for shock and cuts from windows shattered in the blast, Mr Thibault said.
‘This is the first time in history, to my knowledge, that such an act has taken place in the principality,’ he added.
Mr Mirmand told a news conference late Monday that intelligences services were working to understand the victims’ background and ‘determine if others might be facing specific threats’.
Earlier reports from Ukraine said the injured woman was Vadym’s wife, Anna Yermolaiev, but has since emerged it was a different woman, who authorities have not yet named
This photograph shows Monaco’s emergency services deployed near the area of the explosion
The attack has shocked the elite principality on the Mediterranean Coast. Monaco’s Prince Albert II described it as ‘an odious act’ and said all the country’s services were mobilised to ensure security.
An aide to France’s Interior Minister, Laurent Nuñez, said police were working ‘to find the perpetrator, who has fled’.
Monaco is a globally famous tax haven on the French Riviera full of high-worth residents.
It prides itself on its crime-free reputation, and attracts billionaire business people and celebrities from all over the world.
But there have been numerous corruption scandals on the so-called Rock in recent years, including allegations of money laundering by mafia-style gangs, including ones from Ukraine.
Prince Albert, the ruler of Monaco, has pledged to clamp down on corruption, with the help of the French authorities.
Despite Monaco’s independence, its defence is primarily the responsibility of the government in Paris.
Following the bomb blast, Prince Albert described the atrocity as ‘obnoxious’, adding: ‘The Principality of Monaco will remain united and determined in the face of violence and crime. The safety of our community has always been a priority – it will remain so more than ever, whatever the threats.’
