A woman seriously injured in a suspected assassination attempt on Ukrainian businessman Vadim Ermolaev is now believed to have been his mistress, according to emerging reports.
Anna Nasobina, 46, lost both of her legs in an explosion at a residential building in Monaco on Monday night. Investigators are understood to believe the blast was aimed at Ermolaev, 58, a millionaire Ukrainian oligarch.
Nasobina is now fighting for her life in intensive care, as is Ermolaev. Her 13-year-old son with the businessman was also injured in the attack.
Early reports had identified the second adult victim as Ermolaev’s wife, Anna, 56, who is the mother of his four other children.
However, it has since emerged that Ermolaev was with Nasobina, described as his long-term mistress and understood to be based in London, when the explosion occurred.
Ermolaev’s wife Anna told Ukrainian state media outlet Suspilne: “We are currently in a state of severe stress and are actively cooperating with the investigation and law enforcement agencies.”
Ukrainian political blogger Anatoly Shariy also addressed the confusion over the victim’s identity, writing: “During the explosion with Ermolaev, it was not his wife.
“It was this woman who lost her legs and is on the brink of life and death.”
Nasobina (pictured) is in a ‘serious condition’ fighting for her life, and Ermolaev and their son were also wounded
Nasobina, 46, and their son, 13, were with the oligarch when her legs were blown off
Nasobina is the daughter of the former first deputy state prosecutor of Dnipropetrovsk region
Ukrainian oligarch Vadim Ermolaev, 58, was reportedly with his London-based lover, not his wife, when he was wounded
He said: ‘Ermolaev was with his mistress, Anna Nasobina. She has been with him for a long time. They have a common child of 13 years.’
The Suspline report stated: ‘Businessman Vadim Ermolaev’s official wife, near whose [residential] building in Monaco an explosion occurred on the evening of 29 June, was not injured and was physically in another place.
‘From its own sources in law enforcement, Suspilne learned that the other woman is in serious condition.’
Nasobina, who has been described as the tycoon’s ‘common law wife’ is originally from Dnipro in Ukraine.
She is the daughter of the former first deputy state prosecutor of Dnipropetrovsk region.
Nasobina studied law at Dnipropetrovsk National University, followed by an International Institute of Management, before relocating to London.
She describes herself as ‘London-based’ and has been the director of UK company Wycombe Square Investments LLP since 2023.
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She is co-founder of Club Éclectique, a private members’ and literary-arts society registered in Oxford Street with a linked Monaco office. It was established in 2016.
The club’s events feature Russian entertainers with pro-Kremlin ties, and attendees include members of the Moscow diaspora in London.
One 2017 event she hosted, in honour of ballet legend Rudolf Nureyev, saw guests including Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Yasmin Mills, designer Julien Macdonald, party queen Jo Wood, singer Camilla Kerslake and actress Camilla Rutherford attend.
Reports today in France suggest that investigators are examining the possible involvement of the Security Service of Ukraine [SBU] in the suspected assassination bid, which left Ermolaev, Nasobina and their son wounded.
The blast may have been a ‘warning’ rather than a deliberate attempt at murder.
Nasobina is from Dnipro in Ukraine, and studied law at Dnipropetrovsk National University
She describes herself as ‘London-based’ and has been the director of UK company Wycombe Square Investments LLP since 2023
She is co-founder of Club Éclectique, a private members’ and literary-arts society registered in Oxford Street
The entrance of a residential building in Monaco, 30 June 2026, where a bomb wounded Ermolaev
Ukrainian police said previously that the oligarch may have been blown up over his alleged links to a €100million call centre fraud scheme.
Police sources 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.
The Ermolaev 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.
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.
Like many oligarchs who became rich following the fall of the Soviet Union, Ermolaev has faced accusations of criminality, including money laundering, which he denies.
Responding to reports linking him to ‘boiler room’ fraud, Theo Koshlyakov, the businessman’s legal assistant in Monaco, said: ‘To date, no legal proceedings have been initiated against Mr Ermolaev in any jurisdiction’
Ermolaev has been living in the principality since 2021, according to reports.
In 2019, he renounced his Ukrainian citizenship and obtained a Cypriot passport, and in December 2023, he was subjected to personal sanctions by Kyiv.
France is assisting in a search for the suspect. An aide to France’s Interior Minister, Laurent Nuñez, said yesterday that police were working ‘to find the perpetrator, who has fled’.
There was a claim in Nice-Matin news outlet that Ermolaev planned to deliver a speech to the European Parliament alleging corruption in Ukraine.
