NPR
Explosion in Monaco injures 3, including Ukrainian tycoon
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− By
The Associated Press
FILE - A luxury car drives along Monaco Harbor, Nov.
+ By
The Associated Press
Investigators examine the scene at the residential building where an explosive device seriously injured three people a day earlier in Monaco, Tuesday, June 30, 2026.
− 19, 2020.
+ Philippe Magoni/AP hide caption
MONACO — Monaco 's chief prosecutor said Tuesday that the suspect who placed an explosive device that injured three people, including a reported Ukrainian tycoon, acted alone and remains at large.
Police in the principality have opened an attempted murder investigation into Monday's incident but aren't qualifying it as a terrorism investigation, Prosecutor Stephane Thibault told reporters.
− Daniel Cole/AP hide caption
PARIS — A blast from an explosive device has seriously injured three people at a residential building in Monaco, and the attacker fled to France, local authorities said.
+ The motive remains unclear.
One of the three injured is a woman in life-threatening condition, he said.
− French and Ukrainian media reported that a Ukrainian magnate and his family were those injured.
+ The other is a man who is no longer in life-threatening condition and a child whose life isn't in danger, he said. He didn't provide their identities.
− The unusual attack Monday night stunned the elite principality on the Mediterranean Coast.
+ The suspected attacker fled into neighboring France, authorities have said.
Media reports identified Ukrainian construction tycoon Vadym Yermolaiev as being among the injured.
− Monaco's leader Prince Albert II called it "an odious act" and said all the country's services were mobilized to ensure security.
+ Ukrainian news site Ukrainska Pravda said he was targeted by Ukrainian sanctions in 2023 for ties to Russia.
− French and Monaco authorities are searching for the attacker, whose motive is under investigation, Monaco's most senior government official, Minister of State Christophe Mirmand, told reporters.
+ The injured woman is being treated at a hospital in Nice, Christophe Mirmand, the minister of state for Monaco, told French news broadcaster LCI on Tuesday. Her partner and a 13-year-old child suffered less severe injuries but remain at hospital, he added.
− at the entryway of a residence near the French border, injuring two adults and a child who were taken to hospitals in France, he said.
+ on Monday at the entrance of a residence near the French border.
− The suspect crossed the border into France on foot, and was identified via video surveillance in Monaco and the neighboring French town of Beausoleil, Mirmand said.
+ Law enforcement officers were deployed Tuesday morning in Monaco and the surrounding area. French and Monaco authorities are searching for an unidentified suspect, whose motive is under investigation, authorities said.
− A French national police official said French police are searching for the suspect and supporting the investigation, but would not elaborate.
+ The three victims were "apparently returning home peacefully" in the early evening, according to surveillance footage, Mirmand said. "They were caught in the explosion as they crossed the threshold of their apartment building," he said.
− French broadcaster BFM and Ukrainian news site Ukrainska Pravda identified one of the injured as Ukrainian construction tycoon Vadym Iermolaiev.
+ The victims are "regular" residents of Monaco, but authorities do not yet know whether the family had been threatened in the past, Mirmand said.
"It appears that the family was specifically targeted," he emphasized, noting that the alleged perpetrator "had walked around the area several times while waiting for the victims," according to surveillance footage.
− Ukrainska Pravda said he was targeted by Ukrainian sanctions in 2023 for ties to Russia.
+ "In the minutes before the explosion, he was apparently waiting for the victims."
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 mobilized to ensure security.
+ A French national police official said a search is underway for the suspect.
Yermolaiev, a Ukrainian-born businessman originally from the city of Dnipro, built his fortune through the Alef Group, a diversified holding with interests including commercial real estate, manufacturing and agriculture. He became one of the country's best-known property developers, leading projects that reshaped parts of Dnipro's city center, and has regularly appeared in rankings of Ukraine's wealthiest businesspeople.
In an interview with Forbes Ukraine, Yermolaiev said he renounced his Ukrainian citizenship and became a Cypriot citizen in 2017.
In December 2023, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy imposed sanctions on Yermolaiev as part of a broader package targeting individuals and companies Kyiv said had business links to Russia or Russian-occupied territories.
A coastal playground for the rich and famous, Monaco is renowned as much for its tax-friendly incentives and Formula 1 Grand Prix as its glamorous royal family. The small principality is widely regarded as one of the safest places in the world, including through its extensive surveillance network composed of thousands of CCTV cameras covering most public spaces.
Monaco's population of 38,000 is multinational, with only a fifth of the population actually citizens of the principality.