Monaco assassination attempt on Ukrainian businessman: intelligence officer's premises searched – lawyer

Lawyer Masi Nayyem has reported that the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) is conducting searches at the premises of an employee of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) on the morning of 6 November as part of an investigation into the attempted assassination of businessman Vadym Yermolaiev in Monaco. The SSU later confirmed the searches.

Source: Nayyem on Facebook and in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda; the SSU in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda

Quote from Nayyem: "An urgent search is being carried out at the premises of an employee of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine. Supposedly in connection with the Monaco case. The SSU is conducting it. They broke the door down, forced him to the ground and handcuffed him."

Details: Nayyem added that he is representing the serviceman as his lawyer and has arrived at the scene.

"By law, they should have waited for DIU internal security officers to arrive. They didn't," the lawyer wrote.

Speaking to Ukrainska Pravda, Nayyem added that the search is going ahead without a court warrant.

Ukrainska Pravda has contacted the SSU for comment.

Update: The SSU later confirmed to Ukrainska Pravda that it is indeed conducting searches in Kyiv as part of the investigation into the attempted assassination in Monaco.

"To ensure a thorough and impartial investigation into the criminal case concerning the events that took place in the Principality of Monaco this summer, the Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police, under the procedural supervision of the Prosecutor General's Office, are carrying out investigative measures in Kyiv today [6 November – ed.].

As the investigation is ongoing, no further details can be disclosed at this stage," the SSU said.

DIU has confirmed to Interfax-Ukraine that searches were being conducted at the premises of one of its employees and stressed that it is ready to cooperate with an impartial investigation to establish all the circumstances in accordance with the law.

Meanwhile, a source at DIU said that under Article 35.2 of Ukraine's Law on Intelligence, any investigative actions involving a serving intelligence officer must be carried out with the knowledge of, and solely in the presence of, authorised representatives of the intelligence agency, and that the law enforcement officers conducting the search had failed to comply with this provision.

Update at 14:00: Nayyem reported that the search at the premises of the DIU employee had ended.

"The serviceman's handcuffs have been removed. He will not be detained, and no charges have been brought against him… At the beginning of the search, threats of physical violence were made against the serviceman," the lawyer said.

He added that during the search, law enforcement officers seized electronic devices containing "service-related information" and served the DIU representative with a summons to appear for questioning.

Background:

• At around 21:00 on 29 June, an attempt was made to assassinate sanctioned Ukrainian businessman Vadym Yermolaiev and members of his family in Monaco.
• Media reports indicated that investigators in Monaco were examining the possibility that the SSU had been involved in the attempted assassination.
• On 3 July, Interpol issued an international wanted notice for Anastasiia Berezovska, a 39-year-old Ukrainian citizen. According to Monaco law enforcement authorities, she was suspected of having planted the explosive device that left Yermolaiev and members of his family seriously injured.
• On 7 July, it emerged that Berezovska had been found dead and her body buried near Kyiv.
• On the same day, the National Police, the SSU, DIU and the Prosecutor General's Office announced that two men had been arrested on suspicion of murdering the woman wanted by Interpol. Investigators believe the men may also have been involved in the assassination attempt on the Ukrainian businessman in Monaco, as evidence suggests they had made several money transfers to Berezovska's cryptocurrency wallets and bank accounts.
• According to investigators, Berezovska was murdered on 3 July near the village of Yuriv in Kyiv Oblast by Vladyslav Reut, an employee of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, and his accomplice Vitalii Zhykovych, a former SSU employee.
• On 9 July, Reut and Zhykovych were remanded in custody without bail by Kyiv's Pecherskyi District Court on suspicion of murdering Berezovska.
• Sources close to the investigation told Ukrainska Pravda that investigators believe Reut and Zhykovych were behind the attack in Monaco. Both men had allegedly acted as handlers for Anastasiia Berezovska, who was suspected of having attempted to assassinate Yermolaiev.
• Yermolaiev himself has accused Ukrainian intelligence of orchestrating the attempt to assassinate him and members of his family and called for guarantees of protection for all of them.

Subscribe on Patreon to back our journalism long-term.