Monaco explosion masterminds killed their own operative, investigators believe – UP sources

Ukrainian investigators believe the organisers of the 29 June Monaco explosion are Vitalii Zhykovych and Vladyslav Reut, the handlers and suspected murderers of Anastasiia Berezovska. The woman was allegedly behind the explosion, which targeted Ukrainian-born sanctioned businessman Vadym Yermolaiev and his family.

Source: Ukrainska Pravda sources familiar with the investigation

Details: According to the UP sources, both suspects in the Berezovska murder case – Reut, a serving officer of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU), and Zhykovych, a former Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) officer – have begun cooperating with the investigation and are giving detailed testimony.

The two men's accounts of key episodes reportedly align, helping investigators gradually piece together the sequence of events.

According to the suspects, the woman whom investigators believe carried out the attack on Yermolaiev had lived in Germany with her son as a refugee for several years.

Reut and Zhykovych point to money as one of her motives for taking part in the operation, saying Berezovska hoped to earn enough to buy a house back in Ukraine.

The suspects said her travel, accommodation, car rental and other expenses had been paid for.

They also said that before carrying out the main task – the attempt on Yermolaiev's life – Berezovska had taken part in other operations, including one linked to pro-Russian blogger Anatolii Sharii.

One key episode cited by investigators concerns testimony about the making of the explosive device. UP sources said one of the suspects, Reut, a serving DIU officer, admitted to assembling the electronic initiation unit used to trigger the main charge. He said the component had been disguised as a toy car and sent via Germany to the woman who carried out the attack, who then had to assemble the explosive device and make it operational.

However, the other suspect, Zhykovych, claims Berezovska could not have made such a device herself, as it required specialist knowledge and training.

According to one of the suspects, the operation's original plan was different: the initial idea was not to kill Yermolaiev but to kidnap him, though the task was reportedly changed later.

Investigators are also considering the theory that, once French law enforcement identified the woman who carried out the attack, the suspects decided to kill her because she could have testified about the operation's other participants.

UP sources also said one of the suspects, serving DIU officer Reut, is described as a highly qualified explosives specialist.

The investigation continues to cross-check the suspects' testimony against other evidence, and investigative actions in the case are ongoing.

For reference: Vadym Yermolaiev, a businessman from Dnipro, founded the Alef industrial and commercial group and is one of the city's largest property developers. He previously featured regularly on Forbes Ukraine's list of the country's 100 richest people. In 2019, he renounced his Ukrainian citizenship in favour of Cypriot citizenship.

Background:

• At around 21:00 on 29 June, three people were injured in an explosion in Monaco, two of them critically. Ukrainska Pravda sources in business circles said the victims included Yermolaiev and people close to him.
• The explosion triggered a large-scale manhunt for the suspect believed to have planted the explosive device. Initially, investigators believed the suspect was a man captured on surveillance cameras who had fled to France. Journalists later reported that the suspect was in fact a woman who may have disguised herself as a man.
• Media reports suggested that investigators in Monaco are examining a possible link between the attempted assassination of Yermolaiev and the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU).
• On 3 July, Interpol issued a Red Notice for 39-year-old Ukrainian national Anastasiia Berezovska. According to Monaco's law enforcement authorities, she was suspected of planting the explosive device that seriously injured Yermolaiev and his family members.
• On 7 July, it was reported that Berezovska had been found dead, buried near Kyiv.
• Ukraine's National Police, the SSU, DIU and the Office of the Prosecutor General have detained two people on suspicion of murdering the woman. Investigators looked into the two men as possible accomplices in the attempted murder in Monaco after discovering that both had repeatedly transferred money to Berezovska via cryptocurrency and bank accounts.
• An investigation has established that Anastasiia Berezovska was killed near the village of Yuriv, Kyiv Oblast, by DIU officer Vladyslav Reut and his accomplice Vitalii Zhykovych, a former SSU officer, on 3 July.
• On 9 July, Kyiv's Pechersk District Court remanded murder suspects Reut and Zhykovych in custody without the option of bail.

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