The female suspect in the assassination attempt on oligarch Yermolaiev was shot dead: among those detained is allegedly a HUR officer

Near Kyiv, late in the evening on July 6, 2026, the body of a woman was found who was wanted on suspicion of involvement in the high-profile assassination attempt on the sanctioned businessman Vadim Yermolaev in Monaco. According to preliminary information, the woman was shot dead.

This was reported on July 7 by “Ukrainska Pravda” citing its own sources in law enforcement. The body was found at around 23:00, but the exact location and other circumstances of the death were not disclosed by the publication’s interlocutors.

According to UP sources, it concerns a woman suspected of placing an explosive device near Vadim Yermolaev’s residence in Monaco. Earlier, Interpol had declared 39-year-old Ukrainian citizen Anastasiia Berezovska internationally wanted.

The wanted notice stated that she was suspected of attempted murder using an explosive device placed in a public place, as part of an organized group. Investigators identified the woman thanks to surveillance camera footage and testimony from people who saw her before the explosion.

According to UP interlocutors, the woman was outside Ukraine from March 22, 2025 to July 1, 2026. Thus, she allegedly returned to the country only 5 days before she was found dead.

Earlier, German law enforcement conducted searches of the apartment where Anastasiia Berezovska lived and also inspected the car she used. According to German media, the Ukrainian lived in the Main-Taunus district in the federal state of Hesse and had been in the country since March 2022.

Another source of “Ukrainska Pravda” reported that 2 men have already been detained in Ukraine as part of the investigation. One of them is allegedly a serving officer of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the other a former law enforcement officer.

Official statements from the National Police, the Office of the Prosecutor General, or the GUR about these detentions had not been released at the time of publication. Therefore, information about the positions and possible roles of the detainees currently relies solely on UP’s anonymous sources.

The attempt itself took place at around 21:00 on June 29, 2026 near a residential building in Monaco. The explosive device was left near the building’s entrance and then detonated remotely.

As a result of the explosion, 3 people were injured. According to media reports, among them were Vadim Yermolaev, his 13-year-old son, and a woman who was with them. Two of the victims sustained extremely severe injuries.

The State Minister of Monaco, Christophe Mirmand, confirmed that the injured woman had to have limbs amputated. The lives of Vadim Yermolaev and the 13-year-old child, according to available information, are out of danger.

Initially, surveillance cameras recorded a person dressed as a man near the site of the explosion. Later, investigators concluded that it could have been a woman disguising her appearance. According to French media, she studied the area for several days, watched the family, and rented a car under a false name.

The Monaco prosecutor’s office ruled out the version of a terrorist act and launched an investigation into attempted murder and the placement of an explosive device in a public place. Investigators also stated that the suspect likely did not act alone.

An investigation was also launched in Ukraine in parallel. Information was entered into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations about a completed attempt to murder 2 or more people, committed in a manner dangerous to the lives of many people, and carried out on commission.

The Ukrainian case is being led by the Main Investigative Department of the National Police under the procedural supervision of the Office of the Prosecutor General. Other details of the investigation are not being disclosed officially.

The French outlet Le Figaro previously reported that among the versions the Monaco investigation considered was possible involvement of the Security Service of Ukraine. However, this information comes from unnamed sources of French journalists and is not confirmed by official statements from the SBU or the principality’s prosecutor’s office.

Vadim Yermolaev is a native of Dnipro, founder of the Alef trading and manufacturing corporation and one of the city’s largest developers. He was listed among the richest Ukrainians, renounced Ukrainian citizenship and holds a Cypriot passport.

In December 2023, Ukrainian sanctions were imposed on the businessman for a period of 10 years. According to the SBU, the grounds for the restrictions were the activities of an alcohol business associated with him on the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea.

Vadim Yermolaev also featured in the journalistic investigation “Battalion Monaco” about Ukrainian businessmen, politicians and other influential figures who lived on the Côte d’Azur during the full-scale war. A few days before the attempt, journalists again spotted him in Monaco.

Previously we wrote:

• He valued his ex-wife’s life at $10,000: pensioner suspected of ordering a murder
• Shot instructors at the training ground: serviceman sentenced to life imprisonment
• Poisoned a serviceman on instruction from Telegram? A 17-year-old girl was detained in Zhytomyr region
• Cigarettes with a “surprise”: in Odessa Russian special services prepared a drone terrorist attack
• They wanted a “gift” for May 9: SBU foiled an assassination attempt on a senior official of the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Odessa