Monaco explosion: businessman's wife has legs amputated, attack may be linked to fraud call centres in Dnipro

The wife of sanctioned Ukrainian businessman Vadym Yermolaiev has lost both legs as a result of an explosion in Monaco. UP's law enforcement sources believe the attack may have been organised by representatives of organised crime and could be linked to fraud call centres in Dnipro.

Source: nice-matin; informed UP sources in law enforcement

Details: According to UP's sources, French law enforcement believe the incident may have been organised by representatives of organised crime.

UP's sources suggest the attack could be linked to fraud call centres in Dnipro.

As a result of the explosion, Yermolaiev's wife lost both legs and her life is at risk; Yermolaiev himself was injured, with no threat to his life, while his 13-year-old son sustained minor injuries.

The regional outlet on the Côte d'Azur reports that Yermolaiev sustained burns and shrapnel injuries from the explosive device. He was photographed conscious during his evacuation to a hospital in Nice.

His wife's condition was far more critical. Her lower limbs were partially severed. She was rushed to a hospital in Nice, where doctors performed an amputation.

A third casualty, taken to hospital in Nice, is described in media reports as "a young man whose identity had not been established as of Monday evening".

He reportedly sustained burns and bruises after being thrown by the blast wave, and a bolt from the explosive device appears to have lodged in his leg.

Two further people who were in a state of shock reportedly received assistance from rescue workers.

According to eyewitness accounts cited by local media, a suspect was seen wearing a dark top and a cap. He was caught on CCTV cameras in the town of Beausoleil, but police lost track of him in a dead-end alley.

He was actively sought throughout the night from Monday to Tuesday, including with the help of a French gendarmerie helicopter.

Background:

• Vadym Yermolaiev is a businessman from Dnipro, the founder of the Alef trade and industrial corporation and one of the city's largest property developers. He was previously listed among Forbes Ukraine's 100 richest Ukrainians but later renounced his Ukrainian citizenship in favour of Cypriot nationality.
• In December 2023, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy enacted a National Security and Defence Council decision to impose personal sanctions on Yermolaiev for a period of 10 years. Security service stated that the grounds for the restrictions were the activities of his alcohol business in occupied Crimea, where companies were paying taxes to the Russian budget.
• Yermolaiev was also featured in Ukrainska Pravda's Monaco Battalion investigation into Ukrainian businessmen, politicians and oligarchs who settled on the French Riviera during Russia's full-scale invasion.
• On the evening of 29 June, Yermolaiev was injured in a powerful explosion at a residential building in the Principality of Monaco, near the border with France.

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