Explosion in Monaco Injures Three, Reportedly Targeting Sanctioned Ukrainian Businessman

An explosion occurred in a residential building in Monaco after an unidentified person abandoned a bag at the scene, according to BFM TV and Monaco-Matin.

Three people were injured. One account describes the victims as being of "Ukrainian and Russian origin"; Nice Matin reported that all three are Ukrainian citizens and likely members of the same family — a man and a woman between the ages of 50 and 60, and a teenager.

A source for the Ukrainian outlet Novyny.Live claims the blast was likely an assassination attempt targeting Ukrainian businessman Vadym Yermolaiev. Le Figaro reports the same.

Yermolaiev is one of Dnipro’s largest property developers. A year before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian Forbes estimated his net worth at $221 million. Yermolaiev has said he renounced his Ukrainian citizenship in 2017 and has held only a Cypriot passport since. Ukrainian authorities imposed sanctions on him in 2023: according to the Security Service of Ukraine, after Russia’s occupation of Crimea in 2014, Yermolaiev re-registered his alcohol business on the peninsula under the names of front persons and continued operating under Russian law.

Monaco’s authorities confirmed three people were injured but declined to release any information about them. Preliminary findings indicate the explosion occurred after an unidentified individual left a bag containing explosives in front of the building’s lobby and fled. A search for that person is underway.

Monaco has activated its "red plan" — its emergency protocol for events that could result in mass casualties. The Monaco prosecutor’s office, however, does not consider the explosion a terrorist attack.