Monaco Prosecutors Named a Ukrainian Citizen Disguised as a Man as the Main Suspect in the Yermolaev Case

At a press conference on Friday, a representative of Monaco’s prosecutor’s office said investigators initially believed the attacker was a man, but later established that it was a woman in disguise. Surveillance cameras showed that in the days before the attack she had repeatedly surveyed the area.

Prosecutors said the search for the suspect is continuing. Investigators described her as a 39-year-old woman with chestnut hair, a heavy build, and a large tattoo on her right arm.

“These new images and a witness allowed us to establish her identity,” said Monaco deputy prosecutor Morgan Raymond. According to him, the woman “deliberately targeted three people” and was likely helped in fleeing to Germany via Italy and other European countries.

The suspect’s last known address is in Germany. The car used in Monaco in the days before the explosion was also rented from a German agency. Authorities have issued an international arrest warrant for her but have not disclosed her name.

German prosecutors said on Friday that, together with Monaco police, they had searched the suspect’s rented apartment in the federal state of Hesse. “In addition, the car used by the woman was searched and seized,” the statement said.

The motive for the attack has not yet been established. “The relative complexity of the explosive device and the method of operation indicate that the suspect did not act alone . . . there were likely accomplices and those who gave orders,” Raymond said.

Two adults and a child from the same family were injured in the explosion. They were returning home after dinner when the device was detonated remotely. One of the victims suffered serious injuries and remains in critical condition, authorities said. The other two sustained less serious injuries. Their names have not been disclosed.

Yermolaiev’s wife, Anna Yermolaieva, earlier told the FT that the family was cooperating with investigators. She said she was not in Monaco at the time of the explosion. She declined to comment further on the victims.

Yermolaiev was known as an influential businessman and major developer from Dnipro—a city in south-central Ukraine that is home to important industrial enterprises and is significant to the country’s defense against Russia. In 2021, Forbes ranked him 45th on its list of the richest Ukrainians.

In an interview with Forbes Ukraine, Yermolaiev said that in 2017 he had renounced Ukrainian citizenship and since then had held only a Cypriot passport.

In late 2023, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky imposed sanctions on Yermolaiev. Kyiv claimed he had done business with Russian entities in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories, including Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.

A spokesperson for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment.

The explosion caused broad alarm in Monaco, which many wealthy people regard as a place that combines privacy and security. Prince Albert II of Monaco said his thoughts were with “the victims, their families, and the residents directly affected by this despicable crime.”