Two months after the explosion that nearly killed him, his partner, and his son in Monaco, Vadim Ermolaev has given his first major statement. In a lengthy interview with Ukrainska Pravda , published on August 31, the businessman claims that the June 29 attack was intended to kill his entire family. He directly implicates Vladislav Reut, a lieutenant colonel in Ukrainian military intelligence currently detained in Ukraine, in the investigation into the assassination of Anastasiia Berezovska. He also asserts that the bomb used in Monaco contained a highly specialized liquid explosive that was allegedly transported from Ukraine. The identity of the person who ordered the attack remains unknown.
A bomb explodes at the precise moment the family returns home.
On June 29, around 21 p.m., a powerful explosion struck a building in Monaco . The businessman had just finished dinner with his partner Anna and their son. All three were injured. Ermolaev recounts having spent the day at home before going out with his family. No restaurant reservations had been made. After finding a table at a restaurant in the port, the three family members walked back to their apartment. As Vadim Ermolaev presented his magnetic badge at the building's entrance, the bomb exploded. For him, the perpetrators' intent is beyond doubt: "I think they wanted to kill us. The fact that we survived is almost pure luck." The force of the explosion ripped the heavy entrance doors off the building. His partner Anna was seriously injured. According to Ermolaev, she remained in a coma for about a month and is only now beginning to gradually regain her speech and some movement. Their son was also injured. He suffered, in particular, a fracture and burns that required skin grafts: "They knew that the three of us were together. They had seen us leave together, eat together and return together. They still decided to cause the explosion."
A Ukrainian woman is said to have been monitoring Ermolaev for several weeks.
Investigators quickly identified a suspect thanks to Monaco's numerous surveillance cameras. Initially sought as a man, the prime suspect was ultimately identified as Anastasiia Berezovska, a 39-year-old Ukrainian woman. Vadim Ermolaev claims that the footage analyzed by investigators revealed her presence in Monaco as early as the beginning of May, or even April. She would therefore have begun monitoring his movements several weeks before the attack. This timeline is important to the businessman. According to him, it rules out a link between the attack and his brief trip to Ukraine on May 16. Ermolaev explains that he spent only two and a half days in Dnipro to assess the situation there and the status of the businesses he had entrusted to his family: "The idea for the attack clearly existed before my trip to Ukraine." " He maintains that he did not participate in any professional meetings and did not meet with representatives of law enforcement, nor with people from criminal or business backgrounds who could explain the attack."
Anastasiia Berezovska found dead near kyiv
A few days after the explosion, Anastasiia Berezovska returned to Ukraine. On July 3, she was killed near the village of Yuriv, in the Kyiv region. Her body was then buried. Her death was discovered a few days after the attack . Two men were arrested in the investigation: Vladislav Reut and Vitaliy Zhykovych. Reut was an officer in the GUR, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. Ermolaev described him as a lieutenant colonel. Zhykovych, for his part, had reportedly worked in the past as a non-permanent collaborator for the SBU, the Ukrainian security service. Both men are suspected of having participated in the assassination of Anastasiia Berezovska. Investigators are also trying to determine whether they played a role in planning the operation carried out in Monaco.
"How could she have made this bomb?"
Vadim Ermolaev doesn't believe Anastasiia Berezovska acted alone: "Where would she have found the explosive? How would she have made this bomb?" The businessman points out that Berezovska received money to finance her travel and activities and that she wrote reports for others. He therefore believes she was just one cog in a larger operation. The Ukrainian investigation is focusing in particular on transfers made to bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets used by the young woman. For Ermolaev, several people were necessarily involved: "She couldn't have worked alone in Europe. There must have been two or three people capable of taking turns."
A "very rare" liquid explosive at the heart of the suspicions
This is one of the most compelling pieces of evidence put forward by Vadim Ermolaev. According to him, the bomb used in Monaco contained a particularly rare liquid explosive: "It was a highly specialized liquid explosive. You don't find that in a store, and it's not something that ordinary military units have access to." He claims that this substance causes, among other things, very severe chemical burns. Furthermore, Ermolaev maintains that the device was manufactured in Ukraine before being transported to Europe. And he points the finger at one man: Vladislav Reut. According to him, the GUR officer was an explosives expert and manufactured the device himself. This responsibility for the Monaco attack has not yet been definitively established by a court of law. Ermolaev, however, is convinced: "Yes, he participated in this operation."
Ermolaev suspects Reut of having obtained the explosive through his position
The businessman then puts forward an even more sensitive hypothesis. In his view, the highly specialized nature of the product used inevitably raises the question of its origin: "If Reut manufactured it, where did he obtain this explosive? The answer that naturally comes to mind is: probably at his workplace." Vadim Ermolaev therefore believes it possible that the explosive passed through channels linked to Ukrainian military intelligence. However, he provides no evidence to establish that the GUR leadership authorized or organized such an operation. And he specifically refuses to go that far.
"I don't think the GUR leadership gave that order."
Despite his suspicions regarding certain members of Ukrainian intelligence, Ermolaev maintains he does not believe the operation was ordered by the highest-ranking officials of the Ukrainian state. He specifically rules out the involvement of the Ukrainian presidency or the leadership of the GUR (Government of Unity and Reform). For him, the most likely hypothesis remains a private contract carried out by individuals using their skills and possibly their professional resources: "I think someone hired them for money." According to him, several months of surveillance, international travel, the manufacture of an explosive device, and the logistical organization of the attack required significant funding. He therefore believes that a mastermind must be behind the operation. Their identity remains unknown.
Representatives from the GUR contacted Ermolaev
Vadim Ermolaev also revealed that he had exchanges with representatives of Ukrainian military intelligence after the attack. He refused to identify his interlocutors. According to him, they tried to explain that the GUR, as an institution, had nothing to do with the case. The businessman countered with the presence of Vladislav Reut among those arrested in the investigation into Berezovska's death: "How can they tell me that the GUR has nothing to do with all this when a GUR lieutenant colonel has been arrested? He's not some gatekeeper." Ermolaev clarified, however, that these conversations took place without any threats: "The exchanges were very polite and very proper. They told me they understood what I was going through, with my wife in the hospital and my injured child." His interlocutors reportedly assured him that the service itself was trying to understand what had happened.
"Why haven't they found the others?"
One question, however, continues to haunt Vadim Ermolaev. He believes the GUR possesses considerable human and technical resources and is astonished that no other participants in the operation have yet been publicly identified: "With this organization's capabilities and all its resources, why haven't they identified the other people involved?" He claims to have directly asked his contacts this question. The response was reportedly terse: "We are investigating." Ermolaev also regrets the lack of a detailed public statement from Ukrainian military intelligence regarding Vladislav Reut's situation.
The investigation has reportedly begun to slow down
Another accusation from the businessman: the Ukrainian investigation is now progressing more slowly than at the beginning: "Lately, the investigation has started to slow down." He suspects unidentified individuals of trying to protect certain key players: "I think that people with vested interests are putting pressure on the investigation." Ermolaev specifies that he is targeting the work of the Ukrainian National Police in particular, but admits he doesn't know precisely who might be behind this pressure.
Are there threats against suspects in prison?
Vadim Ermolaev also makes a particularly disturbing claim regarding Vladislav Reut and Vitaliy Zhykovych. According to information he says he has, the two men are receiving messages in detention advising them to remain silent: "They are being told it's better to keep quiet and think of their families." He does not know, however, who is behind these warnings. Ermolaev believes that the two suspects' potential cooperation with investigators could be crucial in tracing the mastermind.
The call center theory has been ruled out.
A theory also circulated regarding a possible settling of scores related to fraudulent call centers. Vadim Ermolaev dismisses this. His son, Arthur, was arrested in Cyprus last December as part of proceedings initiated at the request of Estonian authorities. Suspicions concerning call center activities were specifically mentioned. Ermolaev maintains, however, that his son did not admit guilt and that a plea agreement was reached without any admission of responsibility. He also rejects the idea that Arthur could have passed on information likely to provoke reprisals: "I have never had anything to do with that type of activity." He also asserts that his family has never had any business dealings with Alexander Petrovsky.
The Russian angle is no more convincing to Ermolaev.
The possibility of a Russian-linked operation also exists. But here again, Vadim Ermolaev claims to have no evidence to support this theory: "I have no connection with Russian businessmen or with Russia. I don't see why they would need to do this." According to him, he had not received any recent threats from Russia or organizations linked to the country before the attack.
His sanctions against Ukraine remain contested
The attack occurred while Vadim Ermolaev remained subject to Ukrainian sanctions imposed in December 2023. The businessman claims these sanctions were motivated, in part, by suspicions concerning companies formerly linked to his group in Crimea. He was accused of these companies continuing to operate after the Russian occupation and paying taxes within the Russian tax system. Ermolaev asserts that he lost effective control of these companies as early as 2015. According to him, individuals connected to the new authorities gradually took control of the companies before their nationalization by Russia in 2023: "We never received a single cent from these companies after losing control of them." He now claims to possess documents that, in his view, prove he was not involved in the activities that triggered the initial suspicions. The sanctions, however, remain in effect.
"I have never worked with the state."
Ermolaev also disputes the notion that his former companies continued to benefit from Ukrainian public favors despite the sanctions. He claims to have ceased directly managing his businesses and to have entrusted their management to his family: “I am practically retired. I only deal with stock market investments.” Regarding investments made by some companies formerly linked to him, particularly in port infrastructure, he believes, on the contrary, that such investments should be encouraged during wartime: “Building infrastructure in Ukraine today is extremely risky. Those who take this risk should be supported.”
No close connection with Andriy Portnov
When questioned about Andriy Portnov, the former high-ranking Ukrainian official assassinated in Spain in 2025, Vadim Ermolaev asserted that he was not part of his inner circle. He acknowledged meeting him a few times but denied any regular relationship with him. He also claimed to know nothing about any steps Portnov might have taken regarding the sanctions against him.
Security tightened after the attack
Before June 29, Vadim Ermolaev claims he never had a bodyguard. He drove himself and moved freely around Monaco. The situation has changed. The businessman now has private protection and intends to keep it until the masterminds are identified. He nevertheless refuses to hold Monaco responsible for the attack: "I have no complaints against the Principality." According to him, managing to organize such a complex operation in such a small and heavily guarded area demonstrates, on the contrary, the significant resources deployed.
"What guarantee do I have that they won't do it again?"
Two months after the explosion, Vadim Ermolaev still doesn't know who wanted him dead. He claims he can't name any personal enemy who might have ordered such an operation. According to him, neither an obvious business dispute, nor a debt, nor a personal conflict allows him to identify anyone responsible. Only one thing remains certain in his mind: those who organized the attack were prepared to kill not only their target, but also his partner and child. The arrest of Vladislav Reut and Vitaliy Zhykovych now represents his main hope of seeing the investigation trace back to the organizers and the mastermind: "They face life imprisonment. They must decide whether they want to remain silent or explain what they know." For Vadim Ermolaev, discovering the truth is no longer just a matter of justice. It's a matter of survival: "What guarantee do I have that they won't do it again? My only solution is to find the mastermind and see this through to trial."
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