Ukraine, Russia peace efforts stall as strikes intensify
Ukraine has stepped up its long-range drone campaign against Russia, striking targets far beyond the front lines, including a refinery in Russian-occupied Crimea and an oil tank in Moscow. Senior foreign affairs correspondent Greg Palkot reported that the attacks appear designed to deliver a clear signal to the Kremlin as peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow remain at a standstill.
Separately, the International Criminal Police Organization, better known as Interpol, issued a red notice Friday for Anastasiia Berezovska, a 39-year-old Ukrainian national accused of involvement in the bombing of an apartment building in Monaco. The blast reportedly targeted a Ukrainian oligarch with ties to Russia.
The explosion, which occurred on June 30, injured Vadym Yermolaiev, a Ukrainian-born construction magnate, according to multiple media reports.
Monaco public prosecutor Stéphane Thibault declined to identify the victims publicly, but said a woman and a 13-year-old child inside the apartment were also hurt. Media reports have widely described them as members of Yermolaiev’s family.
According to Interpol, Berezovska is wanted on allegations including attempted murder, placing an explosive device on a public road with criminal intent and participation in a criminal association.
Interpol described Berezovska as a dark-haired, German-speaking Ukrainian woman who may have a snake tattoo on her arm.
Surveillance photo of Anastasiia Berezovska (Interpol)
Authorities initially believed the suspect was a heavy-set man. Monaco Deputy Prosecutor Morgan Raymond also first referred to the suspect using masculine terms.
“He stood up a few meters ahead of the victims, placed an explosive device taken from his shopping bag on the entrance steps of the building, then turned to confirm the presence of the three victims before triggering the explosion using a remote control,” Raymond said at an initial news conference after the incident.
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Prosecutors reviewed footage of the days leading up to the explosion, finding that a man wearing a fishing hat repeatedly cased the apartment building and surrounding area. However, on June 28, the man was absent from security footage. Instead, a woman — who prosecutors now believe to be Berezovska — followed the same patterns as the man.
Surveillance photo of Anastasiaa Berezovska (Interpol)
“The repeated reconnaissance operations and the pauses made in front of the building clearly demonstrate the intention to specifically target the three victims,” Raymond said.
Investigators tracked her escape across the Monaco-France border, through Italy and into Germany, where authorities are now actively looking for her. They raided her Frankfurt apartment Thursday.
Raymond noted that the sophistication of her explosive device gives prosecutors reason to believe she did not act alone.
“The relative sophistication of the explosive device and the modus operandi appear to indicate that the person who placed the device was not acting alone,” Morgan said.
The damaged entrance of a residential building after an explosion in Monaco June 30, 2026. (Reuters/Alexandre Dimou)
Though authorities have provided no motive, Yermolaiev’s status as a sanctioned former Ukrainian is notable.
The 58-year-old construction tycoon renounced his Ukrainian citizenship in 2017, Ukrainian media reported, and has been a citizen of Cyprus since 2019.
In 2023, the Ukrainian government sanctioned him for allegedly continuing to engage with Russia, paying taxes to Moscow and facilitating business transactions through his liquor business in Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula which Russia annexed in 2014.
