Monaco Bomb Injures Ukrainian Tycoon Vadym Yermolaiev as Prosecutor Stéphane Thibault Searches Suspect

An explosion at an apartment building entrance in Monaco reportedly wounded Ukrainian tycoon Vadym Yermolaiev with ties to Russia and two other people late Monday, and Prosecutor Stéphane Thibault said a search was underway for a suspect who fled on foot.

The Guardian reported that Thibault said a man entered an apartment block on Monday evening, left a package in the lobby and walked away before it exploded as three occupants approached the entrance.

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CNN reported that Thibault called the bombing an “attempted assassination,” ruling out terrorism as the motive, and said the parcel bomb went off shortly after 9 p.m. local time when three people who live in an apartment on the ground floor arrived home.

Euronews said the prosecutor declined to say who the presumed target was, while multiple sources identified Yermolaiev as the target, and it said the blast wounded at least three people including Yermolaiev.

Prince Albert II condemned the bombing as “an odious act” and said all the principality’s security services had been mobilised, as the manhunt extended into neighboring France.

Monaco’s public prosecutor Stéphane Thibault told reporters that a man entered the apartment block, left a package in the lobby, and walked away before the package exploded, and he said prosecutors had opened an attempted murder investigation but were not qualifying it as terrorism.

Euronews reported that Thibault said authorities were investigating the explosion as “attempted murder” but were not considering it as a “terrorist” act, while an aide to France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said police were working “to find the perpetrator, who has fled.”

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The Guardian said French media identified the injured as Vadym Iermolaiev, his wife and their 13-year-old child, and it reported that Thibault said the woman remained in a life-threatening condition, the man was no longer in a critical condition and the child’s injuries were not considered life-threatening.

CNN reported that local authorities refused to identify the victims publicly, only saying the adult male victim was a resident of Monaco since at least 2021, while the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said the three injured were members of “a family of Ukrainian origin.”

In Monaco, Christophe Mirmand described the bombing as unprecedented and urged “extreme vigilance,” and he said it appeared the family was specifically targeted based on surveillance footage of the suspected attacker walking around the area several times while waiting for the victims.

Monaco’s government said the “strong explosion” was caused by a “parcel bomb,” and it said a suspect was seen on video surveillance fleeing towards the municipality of Beausoleil in France.

NPR reported that Thibault said the suspect acted alone and remains at large, and it said police opened an attempted murder investigation but were not qualifying it as a terrorism investigation while the motive remained unclear.

The Guardian said investigators had not established whether the family had previously been threatened, but Mirmand said “It appears the family was specifically targeted,” and he added that the suspect’s whereabouts remained unknown.

The Associated Press quoted Silvano Ippolito describing first aid he said his wife provided, including tourniquets and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and it reported that the woman was being treated at a hospital in Nice.

Across the diplomatic response, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said its embassy in France, which is also responsible for Monaco, was in touch with local authorities and that Ukrainian diplomats were at the scene providing assistance, as Prince Albert II said all public services were mobilized to ensure security.