Monaco yet to respond to Ukraine's requests over attempt on Ukrainian businessman's life and suspect's murder – UP

Sources have told Ukrainska Pravda that Ukrainian law enforcement agencies investigating the attempted murder of businessman Vadym Yermolaiev in Monaco and the killing of Anastasiia Berezovska, the prime suspect in the case, have not received any response from their counterparts in Monaco to requests for cooperation as of 3 August.

Source: Ukrainska Pravda sources familiar with the progress of the investigation

Details: As far back as 10 July, Ukraine's Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko held a working online meeting with Monaco's Prosecutor General Stéphane Thibault. Senior officials from the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), the National Police and Monaco's competent authorities also participated.

During the meeting, the Ukrainian side briefed its counterparts on the progress of the pre-trial investigation, the circumstances established so far and the detention of suspects in the criminal case over Berezovska's murder. It also proposed establishing a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to investigate the attempted murder of the Yermolaiev family in Monaco, stressing the need to do so promptly to ensure an effective investigation.

Sources told Ukrainska Pravda that the two sides agreed at the meeting to swiftly exchange information and investigative materials.

On 3 and 10 July, the Prosecutor General's Office sent two requests for international legal assistance to the competent authorities of the Principality of Monaco.

Ukraine requested the case materials, witness statements, forensic examination results, photo and video evidence, information on those involved in the crime, details of the explosive device, and data on mobile devices and phone numbers that may have been used to prepare and carry out the attack.

On 29 July, the Ukrainian side also said it was willing to promptly provide Monaco's competent authorities with all available materials from the criminal proceedings, including the results of scene examinations, identification procedures, forensic medical, DNA and ballistic examinations, as well as other evidence gathered.

On 31 July, the Prosecutor General's Office received an international legal assistance request from the competent authorities of the Principality of Monaco seeking materials from both criminal proceedings, including interrogation transcripts, records of investigative (search) actions and expert findings, and asking that a number of additional investigative actions be carried out.

Meanwhile, as of 3 August, Ukraine has received no responses to its requests for international legal assistance, nor has any decision been made on establishing a Joint Investigation Team.

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, 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.

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