A manhunt was launched by authorities after a parcel bomb exploded at a residential building in Monaco in an “attempted assassination”, injuring three people, including a reported Ukraine-born business tycoon, the principality’s chief prosecutor said on Tuesday.
According to The Guardian report, French media identified the victims as Vadym Yermolaiev, his wife and their 13-year-old child. The French authorities said Yermolaiev and his wife were admitted to a hospital with “serious injuries” while their child was also wounded in the explosion.
A view of the residential building where an explosive device seriously injured three people in Monaco. (AP Photo)
Time, location, and severity of the blast
A parcel bomb was left in an apartment building on Rue Révérend Père Louis Frolla, near the border with France and it went off around 9 pm (local time), causing what the authorities described as a “powerful explosion”, the Monaco government said.
Official statements and legal classification
Monaco’s public prosecutor Stéphane Thibault said four others were treated for injuries caused by the explosion, adding that authorities had launched a manhunt for a single suspect and that the incident was being investigated as an “attempted murder” and not a “terrorist attack,” BBC reported.
Investigators examine the scene at the residential building where an explosive device seriously injured three people a day earlier in Monaco. (AP Photo)
Who is Ukraine business tycoon Vadym Yermolaiev
Yermolaiev, who originally belongs to the south-eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, is the founder of Alef trade and industrial corporation and is also one of the most influential business tycoons and property developers in the region, The Guardian reported.
Yermolaiev had also been mentioned in Forbes Ukraine’s 100 richest Ukrainians list.
Vadim Ermolaev, one of Ukraine’s richest men, was injured after a bomb detonated in the lobby of a residential building in Monaco.
Ermolaev, who is sanctioned by Kyiv, sustained life-threatening injuries from the explosion at around 9pm on Monday.
What we know of the attack so… pic.twitter.com/o2KX6oJfRd
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) June 30, 2026
Citizenship history and government sanctions
In 2019, Yermolaiev renounced his Ukrainian citizenship and opted for Cypriot nationality. Ukraine imposed sanctions on the tycoon after it was alleged that he maintained business links with Russian firms that were operating in Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia, including Crimea, reports stated.
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Composition of the IED and suspect flight path
Minister of State of Monaco Christophe Mirmand said the explosive device contained bolts and pellets. Mirmand told reporters on Tuesday that the suspect “appears to have left for France,” BBC reported, citing French broadcaster BFM TV.
Monaco government officials said a suspect was seen fleeing towards the French commune of Beausoleil after the bomb exploded.
