Ukrainian businessman Vadim Ermolaev, ranked among the wealthiest oligarchs in Ukraine, has been seriously injured alongside two other individuals following a targeted package bomb explosion in the heart of Monaco.
According to local media reports and statements from judicial authorities, the blast occurred late Monday evening at the entrance of a building within the principality. Initial surveillance and eyewitness accounts indicate that the explosive device was intentionally planted by an unidentified man who fled the scene immediately before the detonation.
Lionel Beffre, an advisor to Monaco’s Minister of the Interior, confirmed to local newspaper Monaco Matin that the primary victims of the explosion include a man and a woman aged between 50 and 60, as well as a teenager. Both French broadcaster BFM and Monaco Matin later verified through sources close to the investigation that the male victim is indeed Vadim Ermolaev.
The force of the explosion left three people with severe injuries and required immediate on-site medical triage for four additional bystanders who suffered minor injuries or psychological shock.
Read more about this topic: The Monaco target: Inside the rare bomb attack on tycoon Vadym Iermolaiev (with video)
Due to the critical nature of their wounds, the two adult victims were emergency-airlifted to a specialized trauma center in the neighboring city of Nice, France, while the minor was admitted to the Lenval Children’s Hospital, also in Nice.
The brazen attack in one of the world’s most heavily policed and secure enclaves has sent shockwaves through the principality. In response, Monaco’s Minister of State, Christophe Mirmand, announced that immediate national security protocols have been enacted.
“All protection measures have been fully implemented to significantly heighten the alert level across all intelligence and law enforcement services of the Principality,” Mirmand declared to BFM.
Monaco and French authorities have launched a joint transnational investigation to identify the perpetrator and determine the motive behind the attack, with investigators heavily focusing on Ermolaev’s sweeping business ties and oligarch status in Ukraine.
