The victim of the parcel bomb explosion in Monaco is a Ukrainian oligarch

BarcelonaThe Ukrainian oligarch Vadim Iermolaiev and his wife are the victims of the bomb package attack on Monday evening in Monaco, according to French broadcaster BFMTV. The couple is in critical condition and their 13-year-old daughter suffered minor injuries and is stable. The unprecedented attack has shaken the principality. According to the Monegasque government, which has not yet confirmed the identity of the victims, the explosion was caused by a package bomb on a street bordering France, around 9:00 p.m. The public prosecutor of Monaco, Stéphane Thibault, reported that an individual was seen leaving a bag or package in the building's lobby and then fled the scene towards the French town of Beausoleil, according to surveillance cameras in the area. The police have not located the perpetrator. The Minister of State of Monaco, Christophe Mirmand, has highlighted that this is an unprecedented attack on the country: “This is the first time in history, as far as I know, that such an act has taken place in the principality”. For his part, Prince Albert II has described the incident as a "heinous crime" and "a shock for the entire Monegasque community". Vadim Iermolaiev, ranked among the 100 richest Ukrainians in Ukraine according to the Forbes list, was born in the city of Dnipro, in southeastern Ukraine. There, he founded and led the commercial and industrial corporation Alef Group, becoming one of the most influential real estate developers and businessmen in the region. In 2019, the magnate renounced his Ukrainian citizenship to become a citizen of Cyprus. In an interview with Forbes, the businessman justified this decision for reasons of "international protection", arguing that the Ukrainian judicial system "is not ideal" and that the fiscal system "is not objective". Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the businessman resides in Monaco, according to the Ukrainian media Ukrainska Pravda. Iermolaiev, who has not publicly defended pro-Russian opinions, has been affected by sanctions from the Ukrainian government since 2023 for maintaining commercial activities with Russian entities operating in the Kremlin-occupied Crimea. Specifically, for his alcohol sales business, which paid taxes to the Russian state, according to information from the Ukrainian secret services. The government of Volodymyr Zelensky subjected him to asset freezing and demanded that he cease any financial operations in Ukraine for 10 years.