By Manon Cruz, Juliette Jabkhiro and John Irish
MONACO, June 30 (Reuters) – Police in Monaco and France were searching for a suspected bomber on Tuesday after three people were wounded by an explosion in the wealthy principality which two sources said was an attack on a Ukrainian-born oligarch.
The suspect is believed to have fled on foot to France, Monaco prosecutor Stephane Thibault said, after the attack on Monday evening involving a parcel bomb.
The principality, which is known for its casino and luxury yachts, its tight security and the luxury lifestyle of its super-rich residents, is surrounded by the Mediterranean on one side and France on the other, and there are no border checks between the two countries.
UKRAINE-BORN TYCOON
A source familiar with the investigation said the man wounded in the attack was Ukrainian-born oligarch Vadym Yermolaiev and that the woman injured in the same attack, his partner, was badly wounded from the waist down.
A police source confirmed the injured couple were Yermolaiev and his partner, and the third person, who was less seriously injured, was his son.
Yermolaiev was given Cypriot nationality in 2019 and was placed under Ukrainian sanctions in 2023, which Ukrainian media say was for doing business in Russian-occupied Crimea.
The Ukrainian embassy in Paris said it was checking the identity and nationality of those involved.
Thibault declined to confirm the identity of the victims, who have not yet been interviewed by police, but said the man wounded in the attack had lived since at least 2021 in Monaco.
All three were still in hospital, he said. The woman, whom he did not name, was in critical condition and the man’s condition was no longer deemed critical, he said.
TRACKING THE SUSPECT
The attacker left a parcel in front of a building shortly before the three people who live in the ground floor flat arrived, at which time the parcel exploded, Thibault told a press conference.
The attacker is suspected of attempted murder.
“In coordination with the French authorities, we are pursuing efforts to identify and apprehend him. I hope that will happen quickly, given the resources we are deploying,” Thibault said.
Prince Albert of Monaco described the attack as “an odious act,” which he said was a shock for all in Monaco.
In February, a person suspected of killing a former pro-Russian Ukrainian politician outside a school in a wealthy Madrid suburb in 2025 was arrested in Germany.
(Reporting by Juliette Jabkhiro, John Irish, Sudip Kar-Gupta and Dominique Vidalon in Paris, Manon Cruz in Monaco, Anna Pruchnicka in Kyiv; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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