Attack in Monaco: the mafia reckoning that shook the principality and the connection with the Ukrainian oligarchs

“According to the information I have, this is not an attack that can be classified as terrorism,” declared the Attorney General of Monaco, Stéphane Thibault, at the press conference this Tuesday.

A preliminary investigation has been opened “for attempted murder and placing an explosive device in a public place.” “The investigation continues in coordination with the French authorities,” he added.

On the French side, two helicopters and about thirty gendarmes They were deployed around the principality, while the RAID special forces unit remained on alert, according to the police and gendarmerie.

The victims are Vadim ErmolaevUkrainian and sanctioned by President Volodymyr Zelensky, his wife and teenage son.

The wife lost both legs while trying to protect her 13-year-old son, when the backpack loaded with explosives and bolts exploded at the entrance of a luxurious building three-story building, in the east of Monte Carlo. They are part of the 84 Ukrainian oligarchs who arrived in Monaco to settle at the beginning of the war in Ukraine. The explosion threw the teenager 15 meters. His mother’s legs were amputated.

“I confirm the severity of his injuries, but I cannot comment on the exact status of the surgeries he has undergone,” declared Christophe Mirmand, Minister of State of the Principality, in relation to the mother, victim of the explosion, this Tuesday.

The couple is hospitalized in a very serious condition at the Pasteur hospital in Nice. Vadim must be transferred to Marseille, where there are large university hospitals.

This Ukrainian oligarch, whose fortune is involved in shady businesswas in a residential building on Rue Révérend Père Louis Frolla, with his wife and son.

During the press conference this Tuesday, Stéphane Thibault, Monaco’s attorney general, regretted that “two other collateral victims” were also injured by glass fragments after shop windows were broken due to the explosion.

According to witnesses, a suspicious man, wearing a dark T-shirt, white sneakers and a bucket hat, was seen fleeing after installing the backpack at the entrance of the luxurious building.

Security cameras in Beausoleil, the French city on the border with Monacothey caught it quicklybefore the police lost track of him on a dead-end street. It is believed that fled to France on foot, but has not been found.

“He remains at large,” said Minister of State Christophe Mirmand after the explosion in Monaco. The Minister of State advises residents of the Principality to stay at home tonight“while Public Security forces continue to secure the streets.”

“What I can say,” stated the prosecutor, “is that the victim has resided in Monaco since 2021, that We do not have any investigation against him in Monaco and that, as far as we know, he is not wanted by any foreign authority.”

The suspect remains at large and is actively sought. “We have not arrested him. But we are in contact with the French authorities. We are looking for him to identify him and, I hope, arrest him soon,” declared the prosecutor. “He apparently fled on foot,” he added.

The investigation, which has just begun, has been entrusted to the Criminal Investigation Department of the Public Security Service, together with the forensic science unit, in collaboration with the French judicial and police authorities. The prosecutor confirmed that the Nice prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation.

This small principality is ruled by Prince Albert II of the Grimaldi family. He was in Germany when the attack occurred.

“The Principality will remain united and determined in the face of violence and crime,” said Prince Albert II. He condemned the “criminal explosion” and trusts that the authorities mobilized in Monaco and France “will provide all necessary responses at all levels.”

While in Germany on Monday to attend the inauguration of the “Monaco” area at the Europa-Park theme park, Prince Albert II brought forward his return to the Principality for Tuesday night, after learning of the explosion that occurred at 8:58 p.m., near the Place des Moulins.

Calling it “a shock for the entire Monegasque community,” Prince Albert II expressed his condolences to “the victims, their families and the residents directly affected by this atrocious act” alongside Princess Charlene and her family.

At 58 years old and at the head of a real estate, industrial and wine empirebusinessman Vadim Ermolaev, now a Cypriot citizen, appears as a controversial figure in financial affairs.

His fortune is linked to shady dealings in the Ukrainian Dnipro region. Ermolaev was personally sanctioned by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Who could have a grudge against Monaco resident Vadim Ermolaev, owner of a sumptuous villa in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and other luxury properties on the French Riviera?

This Ukrainian was the 48th richest person in the country in 2016according to Focus magazine. Forbes even ranked him 39th, with a fortune of 230 million dollars. The Ukrainian press describes him as “the man who changed the face of Dnipro.” He is originally from this city in the east of the country, just north of Zaporizhzhia.

After studying economics and completing military service, the businessman founded Alef and quickly became one of the largest real estate developers in the region, on the banks of the river of the same name. Ermolaev thus provided Dnipro with numerous large-scale real estate projects: he promoted the construction of skyscrapers, shopping centers and residential complexes, and renovated a boulevard.

It is father of four children He took advantage of the opportunity to develop multiple branches within his company: the industrial sector, with the manufacture of materials and steel; also health, with dental clinics; and finally, agribusiness, about twenty in total. One of these branches, in particular, is related to the wine sector. His other three children worked from Cyprus.

The businessman amassed his fortune with wines and spirits produced in Crimea, becoming one of the most important players in the sector at the national level.

In 2014, after Moscow’s annexation of Crimea, several media outlets accused the billionaire of continuing to sell his products under the label “Crimean Wine with Protected Designation of Origin” in Russia, while those destined for European and American markets indicated their origin in mainland Ukraine. This, despite the fact that the grapes used in both production plants came from the same vineyards.

The result is a clever maneuver to bypass trade sanctions on products originating from the region annexed by Russia. The businessman himself flatly denied it. And he threatened legal action against anyone who maintains this version of events.

Your activities are surrounded by confusion. Ukrainian investigative services accuse him, among other things, of his companies pay taxes to the Russian budget. In 2019, the businessman finally announced that he was renouncing his Ukrainian citizenship, opting instead for a Cypriot passport, as most Russian or Ukrainian oligarchs.

He explained his decision to Forbes magazine: “I want international protection. The Ukrainian judicial system, to put it mildly, is not perfect, and the tax system is not objective.”

In 2022, with the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Vadim Ermolaev’s name appeared in the press again. This time, the Ukrainian billionaire is cited as part of the “Monaco Battalion”an ironic term that refers to the 84 Ukrainian oligarchs and fortunes who have settled on the French Riviera and who, coincidentally, They are being investigated by the State Investigation Bureau of Ukraine.

After revelations about his shady dealings in the alcohol sector, this man has been subjected to personal sanctions —for a period of ten years—imposed by the National Security and Defense Council, at the initiative of Zelensky.

In the middle of the European summer holidays, this attack in Monaco, a millionaires’ paradise, is disturbing. Nothing like this had ever happened.

The fear is that, since many Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs live in their residences there, other vendettas are attempted and the image of cities and resorts is destroyed in the middle of the summer season.