Well-known Dnipro businessman Vadym Yermolaiev was injured in a powerful explosion at a residential building in Monaco near the border with France. He and his wife are in critical condition.
The explosion occurred on the evening of June 29 shortly before 9:00 p.m. local time on Rue Révérend-Père-Louis-Frolla, near the French border. Monaco’s government officially reported at least three people seriously wounded.
According to Le Figaro, all those injured are members of one Ukrainian family. Two adults aged 50–60 suffered severe, life-threatening injuries. A 13-year-old teenager was injured along with them; his condition is assessed as moderate.
The wounded adults were hospitalized at Pasteur Hospital in Nice, and the teenager at Lenval Children’s Hospital.
Surveillance cameras recorded an unidentified man leaving a backpack directly by the entrance door of the residential building. The suspect then left on foot toward the neighboring French town of Beausoleil.
The explosion occurred as people were entering the building. Law enforcement officers are trying to determine whether the Ukrainians were the direct target of the attack.
Monaco prosecutor Thibaut Stéfano confirmed that two of the injured are in critical condition. Bomb-disposal specialists, forensic experts and police are working at the scene and inspecting the area.
“It is probably a terrorist attack. As far as I know, this is the first such case in the history of the principality,” Monaco’s head of government Christophe Mirmand said.
He also said that, according to preliminary information, the explosive device had been packed with bolts and metal shot to increase its destructive effect.
Vadym Yermolaiev is a businessman from Dnipro, the founder of the Alef trade and production corporation and one of the city’s largest developers. He had previously regularly appeared on Forbes’s list of the 100 richest people in Ukraine, but later renounced Ukrainian citizenship in favor of a Cypriot passport.
In December 2023, Volodymyr Zelensky enacted a decision by the National Security and Defense Council imposing personal sanctions on Yermolaiev for 10 years. According to the Security Service of Ukraine, the grounds were the activities of his alcohol business in occupied Crimea, where companies linked to him paid taxes into Russia’s budget.