On 29 June, a parcel bomb detonated in a residential building in Monaco, severely injuring Ukrainian businessman Vadym Yermolaiev, his wife and their 13‑year‑old son. The blast occurred just before 21:00 local time in an apartment block on Rue Revé́rend Père Louis Frolla, near the border with France.
Police and emergency crews reached the scene within five minutes of the explosion, and a helicopter hovered above the area for the rest of the night. In the aftermath, Vice‑President of Monaco Christophe Mirmand said the suspect appears to have fled toward the French commune of Beausoleil on foot and that a massive police effort is underway to locate him.
Surveillance video captured a man dropping a backpack in the lobby a few minutes before the blast. The device reportedly contained bolts and pellets, according to Mirmand’s brief to AFP.
The incident has shocked Monaco’s leadership; Prince Albert II called it a “heinous crime” and said all state services are being mobilised. Co‑operation with French authorities is also underway.
Yermolaiev is a 58‑year‑old developer from Dnipro who moved to Monaco and later became a Cypriot citizen after renouncing his Ukrainian citizenship in 2019. He has substantial ties to the wine and alcohol business in Crimea, a region under Russian annexation, and has faced sanctions from Kyiv since 2023. He was listed in 2020 as the 39th richest Ukrainian by Forbes, with an estimated fortune of $230 million.
More than 100 police officers and emergency personnel were deployed to the site, and residents in nearby buildings reported an “unbelievably loud explosion” from their underground parking spots. Harri Richie, a neighbour who lives 100 m from the targeted building, recounted seeing emergency services drag two heavily injured people out of the building.
