Ukrainian oligarch — Vadim Ermolayev — along with two other people were seriously injured Monday night in Monaco when an explosive device was detonated, an unprecedented incident in the principality.

   The explosion occurred around 9:00 p.m. (editor’s note: local time; 10:00 p.m. Cyprus time) at a property in the tiny Mediterranean state—generally considered very safe—near the border with France.

   Condemning the “heinous crime,” Prince Albert II spoke in a statement of the “shock felt by the entire Monegasque community,” adding that “the Principality of Monaco will remain united and resolute in the face of violence and crime,” and that “the safety of our community has always been a priority” and “will remain so more than ever, whatever the threats may be.”

   Authorities in Monaco reported two people in critical condition, a couple in their fifties or sixties, and a 13-year-old teenager in serious condition, without specifying their identities.

   

According to a source at the French Press Agency familiar with the matter, who confirmed information first reported by BFMTV, the first two victims are Vadim Ermolayev, a Ukrainian oligarch—believed to be the 23rd-richest person in Ukraine—and his partner.

   A resident of Monaco, he has been subject to sanctions since December 2023, pursuant to a decision by the Ukrainian National Security Council ratified by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

   According to media reports citing sources within Ukrainian security and intelligence agencies, sanctions against the multimillionaire were imposed because he continued, despite the war, to conduct business with the Crimean Peninsula—which has been annexed by Russia since 2014— specifically, sales of alcoholic beverages.

   The identities of the victims have not been officially confirmed by authorities in Monaco, where Attorney General Stéphane Tribou is expected to hold a press conference, according to Prime Minister Christophe Mirmand.

   Mr. Tribou told AFP that the explosive device was inside a bag or package that someone had left at the entrance to the property before fleeing.

   “As far as I know, this is the first time in history that such an act has been committed in the principality,” Mr. Mirmand said.

   It is “important to cooperate with security agencies” to examine the “victims’ environment” and determine whether others might be targets of such “threats,” as well as to “ensure that such incidents do not recur” in the small state, he added during a press conference late last night.

   About fifty firefighters, including more than ten who traveled to Monaco from France, were mobilized to assist the victims, while some 84 members of the security forces arrived on the scene.

   An Agence France-Presse photographer observed a large deployment of security forces, who cordoned off the area where the explosion occurred, and saw a helicopter flying over the neighborhood.

   According to French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, “cooperation” between the police forces of the two countries is underway to “locate the fugitive perpetrator.”

   Mr. Mirmand said that eyewitnesses described him, and he was captured on security cameras in Monaco and in Bosoleil, a neighboring French town where he went on foot.

   The three injured people were transported to Nice, about twenty kilometers from Monaco; the teenager was taken to a children’s hospital.

   First aid was administered to four other people, one of whom was in shock and the other three had abrasions from broken glass, Mr. Mirmand explained.

   There are six apartments in the building, but the three victims were the only people present, he noted.

   The mayor of Nice, Éric Ciotti (LR), referred to the incident on X as an “attack” and a “tragedy that has struck Monaco.”

Source: APE-MPE