The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has successfully recovered footage showing the moment a bomb was placed on the steps of Ukrainian oligarch Vadim Ermolaev’s residence in Monaco. This recovery was part of an investigation into an assassination attempt on the businessman, as reported by Ukrainska Pravda.
Ukrainian Attorney General Ruslan Kravcenko announced on Friday that an essential piece of evidence, which the suspects had attempted to destroy, was retrieved thanks to the professional efforts of SBU experts. The public was shown a video recording capturing the incident.
According to the Attorney General, the recording was made by a surveillance camera that the perpetrators had previously installed near the crime scene to confirm the assassination was carried out. “Although this evidence had been deleted, SBU experts managed to recover it,” he stated.
The video depicts an individual leaving a black backpack on the steps of a building, followed by three others who are caught in an explosion as they ascend the steps. After the blast, the first person retrieves the surveillance camera and flees the scene.
Investigative Leads
Anastasia Berezovska, a Ukrainian national residing in Germany, is the primary suspect in the Monaco investigation. She was found dead near Kyiv. Ukrainian investigators have detained two suspects in connection with the crime: an active officer from Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (GUR) and a former officer of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
Sources close to the investigation, cited by Ukrainska Pravda, indicate that both men have begun cooperating with authorities and provided detailed testimonies.
One of the suspects stated that the operation’s original goal was not the assassination of the businessman but rather his abduction, which was later changed.
Investigators in Kyiv suspect that the two detainees killed the woman believed to be behind the attack to prevent her from testifying against them.
According to investigative sources, the GUR officer specializes in explosives and had sent components for assembling the homemade bomb to Berezovska in Germany.
Case Timeline
On June 29, 2026, around 9 PM, three individuals were injured in an explosion in Monaco, with two critically hospitalized. Reports indicated that the target was businessman Vadim Ermolaev, who was present with his wife and their 13-year-old son at the time of the attack.
The bombing triggered a widespread search operation to identify the suspect accused of planting the explosive device. Initially, investigators believed the suspect was a man based on footage from surveillance cameras, who had fled to France. However, it was later reported that the suspect was, in fact, a woman who had disguised herself as a man.
On July 3, Interpol issued a red notice for Anastasia Berezovska, a 39-year-old Ukrainian citizen. Monaco authorities identified her as the individual suspected of planting the explosive device that seriously injured Ermolaev and his family.
On July 7, Ukrainian media reported that Berezovska had been found dead, buried near Kyiv.
Law enforcement agencies, including the police, prosecutor’s office, Security Service, and the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense (GUR), announced the arrest of two individuals suspected of murdering the woman. Investigators are examining the two men as potential accomplices in the assassination attempt in Monaco, having discovered that both had repeatedly transferred money to Berezovska through both cryptocurrency and bank accounts.
Authorities established that Anastasia Berezovska was killed near the village of Iuriv in the Kyiv region on July 3 by GUR officer Vladyslav Reut along with his accomplice, Vitalii Zhykovych, a former SBU officer.
On July 9, a Kyiv court ordered the suspects in her murder, Reut and Zhykovych, to remain in custody without the possibility of bail.
On July 16, oligarch Vadim Ermolaev directly accused the Ukrainian military intelligence, GUR, of orchestrating the assassination attempt against him and his family.
About Vadim Ermolaev
Vadim Ermolaev ranks among Ukraine’s wealthiest individuals. The businessman and investor, born in Dnipro, has served as the CEO of Alef Group and developed significant real estate projects in Dnipro. In 2019, he renounced his Ukrainian citizenship and became a citizen of Cyprus.
Now residing in Monaco, Ermolaev has been under sanctions since December 2023, following a decision from Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) approved by President Volodymyr Zelensky. These sanctions have resulted in the freezing of his assets and a ten-year prohibition on conducting any financial operations in Ukraine.
According to the SBU, the reason for these restrictions was his involvement in the alcohol trade in occupied Crimea, where companies paid taxes to the Russian government.
