Suspect in Monaco Bomb Attack Speaks to BBC from Prison
Former Ukrainian security officer Vitalii Zhykovych tells BBC from a Kyiv prison that the Monaco car bomb targeting Vadym Yermolayev was ordered by HUR.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Former Ukrainian security officer Vitalii Zhykovych speaks exclusively to the BBC from a Kyiv prison.
- He links the June bomb attack in Monaco targeting multi-millionaire Vadym Yermolayev to senior HUR members.
- Anastasia Berezovska, the suspected bomber, was later found shot dead in the woods west of Kyiv.
- Zhykovych and active-duty intelligence officer Vladyslav Reut blame each other for Berezovska's murder.
A former Ukrainian security services officer connected to a June bomb attack in Monaco targeting a multi-millionaire has stated he believes the operation was ordered by senior members of HUR, Ukraine's military intelligence agency. Speaking in an exclusive interview with the BBC from a prison in Kyiv, facilitated by his legal counsel, Vitalii Zhykovych shared his account of the attempted assassination for the first time.
Ukrainian-born businessman Vadym Yermolayev and his 13-year-old son sustained severe injuries in the blast, while his partner suffered catastrophic injuries. Yermolayev later described their survival as nothing short of a miracle. The attack occurred as the family returned from an evening meal on the seafront in Monaco, with surveillance footage showing Anastasia Berezovska walking slightly ahead before leaving a device in a bag on their doorstep.
A week following the bombing, the body of 39-year-old Berezovska was discovered in the woods west of Kyiv bearing gunshot wounds to the head. She had fled through Italy and Germany before taking a bus from Frankfurt back to Ukraine. Before she could be interrogated, however, she was driven to the woods by Reut and Zhykovych, with each suspect accusing the other of shooting her after Reut initially confessed to investigators and led them to the shallow grave before changing his court testimony.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
"In my view, this constitutes grounds for the operation"
Vitalii Zhykovych
Zhykovych maintains that he neither sent her to kill nor killed her himself. He alleges that Reut asked to use Berezovska for the bombing and, upon Zhykovych's refusal due to her lack of full training, agreed to send her for reconnaissance instead. According to Zhykovych, Reut then communicated with Berezovska directly and supplied her with the explosives. The SBU has described Zhykovych strictly as a former law enforcement officer.
This case illustrates the complex, shadowy intersections of wartime intelligence operations and transnational crime. The transition from an overseas assassination attempt in Western Europe to a targeted execution on Ukrainian soil underscores the severe stakes involved, while investigators continue to untangle conflicting motives ranging from state-ordered hits to rogue actions or criminal score-settling.
Yermolayev, who renounced his Ukrainian passport and holds Cypriot citizenship, has repeatedly dismissed various theories, including links to lucrative scam call-centre gangs. Zhykovych, however, claims Reut told him the bombing was retaliation for funding the annexation of Crimea, which he interpreted as Yermolayev paying taxes to Russia from businesses located in Russian-occupied Crimea—an allegation Yermolayev has repeatedly denied.
During his recent custody hearing in Kyiv surrounded by armed guards, Zhykovych spoke publicly for the first time, noting that Reut mentioned a second target whose name sources strongly suggest was a pro-Russian blogger convicted in absentia last year of treason. Investigations into both the Monaco bombing and the Ukrainian murder remain ongoing.
Source: BBC World
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