CCTV emerges of ‘suspect on the run’ after backpack bomb assassination attempt on Ukrainian family in Monaco

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The target of the attack was identified by the AFP press agency as oligarch Vadim Ermolaev, citing a source close to the investigation.

His partner and a 13-year-old ‘very likely related’ to the pair were also injured, according to Christophe Mirmand, the Monegasque minister of state and the principality’s most senior government official, speaking to AFP. All three victims were taken to hospital in Nice, France.

Monaco’s prosecutor general Stéphane Thibault said a suspect placed a “parcel bomb” inside the lobby of a building on Rue du Révérend Père Louis Frolla. 

CCTV shows the suspect fleeing towards the town of Beausoleil, just across the border in France.

Prosecutors said the backpack bomb contained bolts and buckshot.

The Monegasque government said the area was cordoned off and the six other unoccupied flats inside the building were secured.

“This is the first time in history, to my knowledge, that such an act has taken place in the principality,” Mr Mirmand said.

Le Figaro said video surveillance images showed a man dropping a backpack at the entrance of the residential building shortly before the explosion.

Four additional people were taken to Princess Grace Hospital, including two with cuts from windows that shattered and two others who needed treatment for shock, the Monegasque government said.

Real estate tycoon Mr Ermolaev renounced his Ukrainian citizenship in 2019 and obtained Cypriot nationality. He relocated to Monaco just after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to French newspaper Le Figaro.

In 2023, he was sanctioned by Kyiv for selling alcohol in Russian-occupied Crimea. According to an official register in Ukraine he is subject to asset freezes and tradition restrictions within Ukraine.

Prince Albert II, the principality’s monarch, condemned the explosion as a “heinous act” and “a shock to the entire Monegasque community”.

Praising the response of Monegasque and French emergency services, he added: “We trust in [the authorities] to quickly bring to light the circumstances of this tragedy, identify those responsible and provide all of the answers, at every level.

“More than ever, the principality of Monaco will remain united and determined in the face of violence and crime. The security of our community has always been a priority; it will remain that way more than ever, regardless of the threats.”

Eric Ciotti, the Right-wing mayor of nearby Nice, France, wrote ⁠on X: “The attack committed this evening is a ⁠tragedy for Monaco.”