A parcel bomb detonated on the evening of 29 June at a residential building in Monaco, injuring Ukrainian real estate billionaire Vadym Yermolaiev, his partner and their 13‑year‑old son. The explosion, which occurred shortly before 21:00 local time, shattered windows and knocked a white sheet of paper over the building’s front steps.
Monaco’s prosecutor Stéphane Thibault said the perpetrators dropped a backpack in the building’s lobby moments before the blast, then fled toward the French commune of Beausoleil. He characterized the attack as an attempted murder, not a terrorist incident, and confirmed that four other people received medical care for shock and cuts.
The incident has mobilised more than 100 police and emergency personnel, including a helicopter hovering over the scene until dawn. The Princess of Monaco, Caroline, denounced the attack as a “heinous crime” and a “shock for our community.”
Yermolaiev, 58, is a Cyprus‑resident who sold his Ukrainian citizenship in 2019. His wealth, estimated at $230 million by Forbes, stems largely from property deals in Crimea and interests in the wine and spirits sector. He is under Ukrainian sanctions imposed in 2023.
Monaco’s chief of security, Christophe Mirmand, confirmed that surveillance footage captured the suspect dropping a backpack just before the explosion. Authorities say the individual was seen at the periphery of a beach in Beausoleil the next day, a location now under intense police surveillance.
Nobody has yet been arrested. The investigation continues as Monaco and French law‑enforcement coordinate efforts to find the suspect, and Ukrainian officials confirm the status of the injured parties. The incident remains the first of its kind in Monaco’s relatively peaceful history.
