Businessman Vadym Yermolaiev from Dnipro, sanctioned by Zelenskyy, targeted in Monaco bombing

As a result of yesterday’s explosion in Monaco, prominent Dnipro businessman Vadym Yermolaiev — who was sanctioned by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2023 — and members of his family were seriously injured.

Western media outlets have reported further details of the incident.

According to Le Figaro and Monaco-Matin, the explosion occurred on the evening of June 29 in a residential building near the French border. Three members of one Ukrainian family were injured: a couple in their 50s or 60s sustained life-threatening injuries, while a 13-year-old teenager was reported to be in moderate condition. The two adults were taken to Pasteur Hospital in Nice, while the teenager was taken to Lenval Children’s Hospital.

Investigators are treating the incident as a deliberate attack. Reuters reported that surveillance cameras captured a man leaving a backpack or bag near the entrance to the building before fleeing on foot toward the French town of Beausoleil. He is being sought by law-enforcement authorities in Monaco and France.

According to the Monaco prosecutor’s office, the explosive device was homemade and contained bolts and metal pellets intended to increase its destructive effect. Christophe Mirmand, Monaco’s Minister of State, described the incident as unprecedented for the principality.

Meanwhile, the French press has confirmed that Ukrainian businessman Vadym Yermolaiev was among those injured in the Monaco explosion.

According to BFMTV, citing a source close to the investigation, three Ukrainian nationals were injured in the blast: a married couple in their 50s or 60s and a 13-year-old teenager.

Yermolaiev, who was born in 1968, ranked 23rd in Forbes’ list of the 100 richest Ukrainians. A native of the Dnipropetrovsk region, he made his fortune in, among other sectors, the production of alcoholic beverages, including wine. Yermolaiev is the founder of the Alef Corporation and is known as a philanthropist who regularly supported Dnipro’s Jewish community and financed the reconstruction of major central sites, including the construction of Menorah, described as the world’s largest Jewish centre.

BFMTV also reported that the Security Service of Ukraine had previously included Yermolaiev on a list of 84 Ukrainian citizens who, according to the agency, may have left the country illegally.

However, the outlet may have made an inaccuracy here: the reference appears to be to a State Bureau of Investigation list containing the same number of so-called elite refugees, which Ukrainian media reported on in 2022. Yermolaiev was included on that list.

The broadcaster also wrote that the businessman had been a co-owner of Estonia’s Versobank, whose licence was revoked by the European Central Bank in 2018 over “systematic violations of anti-money-laundering legislation.”

It should be recalled that Zelenskyy imposed National Security and Defence Council sanctions on Yermolaiev in 2023, accusing him of re-registering his business in Crimea under Russian law after its annexation.