Suspect linked to Monaco bomb attack on millionaire breaks silence to BBC

BySarah Rainsford, Southern and Eastern Europe correspondent and Mariana Matveichuk.

Key points

• When she left Ukraine as a refugee with her young son, the 39-year-old had been in Germany since early 2022.
• Ukrainian-born businessman Vadym Yermolayev and his 13-year-old son were badly hurt in the blast and his partner suffered catastrophic injuries.
• "As Reut informed me, this operation had been authorised and approved by Reut's superiors, who served in the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence, " he notes.
• She had already fled, first driving through Italy and Germany, then taking a bus from Frankfurt to Ukraine.
• Berezovska was rapidly identified as the suspected bomber and on 2 July her image, taken from CCTV footage, was circulated by Interpol.

Meanwhile, a former Ukrainian security services officer linked to a bomb attack in Monaco in June that targeted a multi-millionaire notes he believed it was ordered by senior members of HUR, Ukraine's military intelligence agency.

In an exclusive interview with the BBC from prison in Kyiv, facilitated by his lawyer, Vitalii Zhykovych has given his own account of the attempted assassination for the first time.

Ukrainian-born businessman Vadym Yermolayev and his 13-year-old son were badly hurt in the blast and his partner suffered catastrophic injuries. Yermolayev afterwards described their survival as "nothing short of a miracle".

Zhykovych describes himself as a "freelancer" for Ukraine's SBU security service and notes Anastasia Berezovska, the woman caught on camera planting the bomb in Monaco, was his "agent".

In practice, a week after the bombing, Berezovska's body was discovered in the woods west of Kyiv with gunshot wounds to the head.

But Zhykovych insists he did not send her to kill, and nor did he kill her.

He was arrested and accused of her murder together with an active-duty intelligence officer from HUR called Vladyslav Reut.

Reut initially confessed to investigators, and led them to the shallow grave. But days afterwards in court, he changed his testimony to blame Zhykovych. Ukrainian agent accused of murdering Monaco bomb suspect changes story. For a long time, Zhykovych himself stayed silent.

Now, responding to questions from the BBC, he alleges that Reut – who he refers to as "The Boss" – had "proposed the operation" in Monaco against Vadym Yermolayev. He understood it was an official mission.

Distancing himself from the explosion itself, he alleges that Reut asked to employ Berezovska for the bombing and when Zhykovych refused – he states she was not fully trained – Reut agreed to send her for reconnaissance instead.

Reut then communicated directly with Bereszovska without including him, according to Zhykovych. This person alleges that Reut additionally provided her with the explosives.

For context, the BBC asked HUR to comment on the latest claims. According to The agency has previously, is it "committed to a full investigation" and providing "comprehensive support" to law enforcement bodies.

In practice, the SBU has described Zhykovych in an official note only as a "former law enforcement officer".

Yermolayev was attacked in Monaco as he and his family were returning from an evening meal on the seafront. A surveillance video demonstrates Berezovska walking slightly in front of the group, then leaving the device in a bag on their doorstep.

It detonates just as they obtain close, apparently shocking even Berezovska with its force.

Yermolayev afterwards stated he believed that serving HUR officers, "individuals close to the agency's current and former leadership", were linked to the attack. He pressed "the truth, protection, and justice".

Before she could be caught and questioned though, she was driven to the woods by Reut and Zhykovych and killed. Each blames the other for her shooting.

For context, the shocking case has prompted intense speculation, including over who may have wanted Yermolayev dead and why, and whether this could have been a state-ordered assassination attempt, a rogue operation or some kind of criminal score-settling.

For context, the businessman himself, who renounced his Ukrainian passport some years ago and now has Cypriot citizenship, has dismissed multiple theories.

They include the idea the attack might be linked to a struggle between organised crime groups involved in highly lucrative scam call-centres in Ukraine.

As the scam networks are known in Ukraine, earlier this year, a court in Estonia convicted Yermolayev's son, Artur, of defrauding its citizens out of millions of euros through such "offisy".

Vadym Yermolayev informed the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper that he "never had anything to do with anything" in the case. Now Zhykovych has proposed his own theory to us.

He alleges that Reut informed him the bombing was in retaliation for "funding the annexation of Crimea". It he understood to mean Yermolayev was paying taxes to Russia from businesses in Russian-occupied Crimea.

"In my view, this constitutes grounds for the operation, " he communicated from prison. Yermolayev has repeatedly denied any remaining business interests linked to Russia. But might this story be even murkier?

At his most recent custody hearing in Kyiv, surrounded by heavily armed guards, Zhykovych spoke publicly for the first time since his arrest. The BBC were the only media present.

At one point Zhykovych remarked Reut had in fact informed him the attack in Monaco was not "authorised".

"Someone had ordered this target from the civilian side, " Zhykovych remarked, without explaining.

Meanwhile, the judge then interrupted, reminding him that he was addressing an open court. Zhykovych additionally disclosed that Reut originally talked of two targets.

When we asked, he remarked he could not disclose the second name. Other sources strongly suggest it was a pro-Russian blogger tried and convicted in absentia last year by Ukraine of treason.

As the investigation continues – into both the bombing in Monaco and the murder in Ukraine – Berezovska's family have plenty of questions of their own.

Zhykovych now claims she was living a double-life, working with him as an agent "against Muscovy" – meaning Russia.

He remarked they had met online and informed us the pair were working to "repel the armed aggression of the Russian Federation".

Berezovska's husband has informed the BBC that the allegation was "nonsense". He believes she was dragged, unwittingly, into the whole affair.

Zhykovych notes Berezovska called him the day after the Monaco attack, and when he asked why she had done it, she stated Reut had promised her a massive fee. "$50, 000 doesn't just lie on the streets, " she supposedly explained.

Residents in her village have informed us that Berezovska was saving to purchase a flat. But when she travelled to Ukraine to collect the funds, she was lured into the woods and shot. Extra reporting by Anastasiia Levchenko and Volodymyr Lozhko.

Taken together, the developments around suspect linked to Monaco bomb attack on millionaire breaks silence to BBC point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.