Interpol issues Red Notice for Ukrainian woman suspected in Monaco bombing

Interpol on Friday identified a 39-year-old woman from Ukraine as the main suspect in a bombing in Monaco that reportedly targeted a Ukrainian tycoon with links to Russia.

The police organization named Anastasiia Berezovska, who remains at large, in a Red Notice posted on its website seeking her arrest on charges of attempted murder, placing an explosive device in a public place with criminal intent, and criminal conspiracy.

Media additions

Monaco authorities haven’t identified any of the three people wounded in Monday’s explosion at an apartment building entrance but said they are a family and that they appear to have been specifically targeted.

Media reports named Ukrainian construction tycoon Vadym Yermolaiev as being among the wounded. He has said he renounced his Ukrainian citizenship nearly a decade ago, and he was targeted by Ukrainian sanctions in 2023 for ties to Russia.

A woman and a child were also hurt. One of the victims is still in a life-threatening condition, prosecutors said Friday, also mentioning two other “collateral victims” who were slightly injured in the attack.

The Interpol notice says the suspect has a tattoo, possibly of a snake, on her right arm from the shoulder to the elbow. It says she was born in Ukraine, has dark hair, and speaks German.

Investigation and suspect identification

He added that the suspect was initially identified as a heavily built person appearing to be male, wearing a dark long-sleeved top, light-colored shorts and a black bucket hat. A broader review of CCTV footage from previous days and testimony from a witness redirected the investigation toward a woman disguised as a man.

"The relative sophistication of the explosive device and the modus operandi suggest that the person who planted the device did not act alone."

Morgan Raymond, deputy public prosecutor, via AP

Two male individuals were taken into police custody as part of the investigation, but both were subsequently released.

International coordination

Investigators also identified a rented vehicle fitted with German license plates used by the suspect in Monaco. The suspect’s escape route was traced, including the journey from France into Italy, and then across several European countries up to her country of residence. Raymond said that her last known address is in Germany, “a country with which judicial cooperation is particularly active.”

German police, including special forces, on Thursday searched the rented apartment near Frankfurt of a 39-year-old Ukrainian woman in connection with the investigation, police and prosecutors said in a statement Friday.

A vehicle used by the woman also was searched and secured, they added, and evidence will be handed over to authorities in Monaco. They said that the woman is on the run and they can’t give more details at present.

The attack shocked the country on the Mediterranean coast, one of the world’s smallest sovereign states and known for its high concentration of wealthy residents. Monaco’s Prince Albert II described it as “an odious act” and said all public services were mobilized to ensure security.

Context and geopolitical implications

Ukraine is believed to have carried out attacks and targeted killings of Russian figures in the course of the war, although those attacks have largely been confined to Ukrainian or Russian territory.

In December 2024, Ukraine’s security service claimed responsibility for killing the head of nuclear, biological and chemical military protection forces for the Russian military.

Western intelligence officials have recently said that Russia has ramped up a campaign of targeted killings since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.