A suspected assassination attempt on a Ukrainian-born businessman has triggered a major manhunt spanning Monaco and France, after a parcel bomb exploded in a residential building on Monday, injuring three people.
According to reports, the target was Vadym Yermolaiev, a prominent tycoon who left Ukraine and renounced his citizenship in 2019.
Monaco authorities have not publicly named the victims, describing only that an adult male resident who has lived in the city-state since at least 2021 was among those hurt. However, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that the three injured individuals (two adults and a child) were members of a family of Ukrainian origin.
Monaco’s Prosecutor General Stéphane Thibault described the incident as an “attempted assassination” during a news conference on Tuesday, while ruling out terrorism as a motive.
Thibault said an unidentified suspect left a parcel bomb at the building shortly before 9 p.m. local time. The device detonated moments after the victims residents of a ground floor apartment returned home. All three were hospitalized in nearby Nice, France.
The investigation remains ongoing as police search for the perpetrator.
Two more people were wounded by glass debris on the street outside the building, Prosecutor General Stéphane Thibault said.
Violent crime is extremely rare in Monaco, a small Mediterranean city-state with around 40,000 residents. The affluent enclave is widely known as a haven for the wealthy, largely due to its favorable tax policies.
In a statement, Monaco’s Prince Albert II said all relevant state services have been mobilized and are working closely with French authorities. “We trust them to establish the circumstances of this tragedy as swiftly as possible, to identify those responsible and to provide every necessary response, at every level,” he added.
Source : cnn
