Ukraine's Security Service recovers deleted video of attempted assassination of businessman Yermolaiev in Monaco

The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has recovered deleted surveillance footage as part of its investigation into the attempted murder of businessman Vadym Yermolaiev in Monaco on 29 June.

Source: Ukraine's Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko

Quote: "A key piece of evidence that the suspects attempted to destroy has been recovered thanks to the professional work of experts from the Security Service of Ukraine.

The video was recorded by a surveillance camera that the perpetrators had installed near the crime scene in advance to obtain confirmation that the assassination had been carried out. Although this piece of evidence had been deleted, SSU experts managed to recover it."

Details: The video shows three people walking up the stairs when an explosion occurs.

After the blast, a passer-by removes the camera and runs away.

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 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, Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (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.
• Ukrainska Pravda sources familiar with the investigation said that 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.
• On 16 July, Yermolaiev accused DIU of orchestrating the attempt to kill him and his family and has requested protection for all of them.

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