The woman suspected of having led the attempted assassination with an explosive of a businessman of Ukrainian origin in Monaco was found dead in Ukraine with “gunshot wounds to the head”, the national police announced Tuesday July 7, who arrested two suspects.
“The body of a woman, suspected by the police of the Principality of Monaco of the attempted murder of a family (…) has been found,” the Ukrainian police said in a press release.
Monegasque justice had launched an international hunt to find Anastassia Berezovska, a 39-year-old Ukrainian suspected of having triggered an explosive device placed at the entrance to a luxury building in the principality on June 29, injuring three people. This attack was a thunderclap for Monaco, an ultra-secure microstate of 2 km2 and 40,000 inhabitants, home to an international and very wealthy population.
Ukrainian police said Anastasia Berezovska’s body had “gunshot wounds to the head” and was found with “gun shells,” but did not specify where exactly in Ukraine it was found. She claims that the two suspects arrested for her murder are a “former member of law enforcement” and a “current employee” of the General Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. The latter claimed during the investigation to have committed this murder and said he had acted without “informing his superiors”.
According to the national police, Anastassia Berezovska returned to Ukraine on July 1 where she had been in contact with her family and these two men. The latter repeatedly made transfers to accounts belonging to him and could be involved in the assassination attempt in Monaco, police continue.
Last Friday, the deputy prosecutor of the Principality of Monaco declared that the facts seemed to indicate that the suspect had “not acted alone” and had “pretended like a man” to commit her act. The Ukrainian authorities also announced that they had discovered “a torture chamber” during their investigation, “at the home of the former member of the police” in “a room located in the basement”.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office released a video appearing to show this location. We see a person go down into a cellar where a small ax and a pickaxe appear placed against a wall, as well as a green plastic sheet on the ground. We can also see red spots on the ground in this video.
“Identify the sponsors”
“All the information available to the Ukrainian law enforcement agencies was transmitted to the investigative services of the Principality of Monaco,” adds the Ukrainian police, specifying that the investigation also involved the GUR, the security services (SBU) and the General Prosecutor’s Office. “The authorities responsible for the investigation are working to identify the sponsors and other people involved in the assassination attempt” in Monaco, she continues.
Anastassia Berezovska’s home in Germany was searched during operations to find her, German police said on Friday.
Monaco authorities have not confirmed the identity of the victims of the June 29 attack but, according to various sources, it targeted Vadim Ermolaev, 58, a wealthy businessman originally from Ukraine and now of Cypriot nationality. He, his partner and his 13-year-old son were injured in this parcel bomb attack.
The two adults were taken in absolute emergency to the hospital in Nice, France. Vadim Ermolaev’s condition quickly stabilized but his partner’s vital prognosis was still in jeopardy on Friday. Residing in Monaco since at least 2021, Vadim Ermolaev has been the subject of sanctions in Ukraine since December 2023 for his commercial activities in Crimea, annexed by Russia. The targeted man was not the subject of an investigation in Monaco and, to the knowledge of local authorities, he was not wanted abroad, according to the principality’s public prosecutor’s office.
