A spy thriller with incredible ramifications lies behind the attempted assassination of Ukrainian oligarch Vadim Yermolayev, who holds a Cypriot golden passport, in Monaco.

A week later, Anastasia Berezovskaya was found murdered near Kyiv with gunshot wounds to the head; Anastasia Berezovskaya, Interpol’s number one most-wanted suspect in the case. The perpetrators were an officer of the Ukrainian Secret Service and a former police officer.

Torture Chamber

The thriller is now taking on Hitchcockian proportions, as it was determined that Anastasia had been tortured before her death in a makeshift underground torture chamber discovered by Ukrainian authorities at the former police officer’s home. In the footage released by the Kyiv Prosecutor’s Office, bloodstains, axes, a pickaxe, and covers can be seen.

The role of the undercover agent

Security camera footage from a store near Monaco captured Berezovskaya’s final movements before the bombing. The 39-year-old, who was disguised as a man, remotely detonated the explosive device using a remote control.

The mysterious woman was in constant contact with the two suspects, who transferred money to her accounts. Immediately after carrying out the assassination plot, Anastasia fled to Germany and returned to Ukraine on July 1, to collect the 150,000-euro reward offered by the Ukrainian authorities for the oligarch’s head, for whom they had issued a bounty. Almost a week later, she was found dead in Kyiv, having been shot in the head.

Sources within the Ukrainian police believe the attack may be linked to a network of call centers run by the son of Ukrainian oligarch Artur, who is implicated in a massive fraud scheme. The scammers posed as cryptocurrency experts and convinced thousands of victims to invest in platforms that showed fictitious profits.

Money Laundering Through Cyprus

The enormous sums were laundered through offshore companies via the Versobank money-laundering operation in Estonia, whose chairman was none other than Vadim Germolaev. Artur was arrested in December 2025 by Cypriot authorities at Larnaca Airport, pursuant to an Interpol warrant, and extradited to Estonia. However, he did not remain in prison for long, as he paid 8.5 million to have his sentence suspended.

Watch the report by Christoforos Nestoros