Assassination attempt on Ukrainian businessman in Monaco: What we know about Vadym Yermolaiev?
Photo: Businessman Vadym Yermolaiev (video screenshot)
Authorities in Monaco are investigating the bombing of well-known businessman Vadym Yermolaiev, who was once among Ukraine's 100 richest people. Local officials have described it as the first terrorist attack of its kind in the principality's history.
RBC-Ukraine takes a closer look at the latest details of the assassination attempt and who Yermolaiev is.
Key points
- Three people were injured, including Vadym Yermolaiev and, according to preliminary reports, his wife and 13-year-old son.
- All three were hospitalized in Nice, France.
- The explosion occurred on June 28 in Monaco near a building undergoing renovation.
- The suspect fled toward the French town of Beausoleil.
- Surveillance cameras captured a man dressed in dark clothing, who remains at large.
- Investigators are treating the incident as a possible terrorist attack.
- The explosive device reportedly contained bolts and metal pellets.
- Officials described the attack as unprecedented for Monaco.
Who is Vadym Yermolaiev
Vadym Yermolaiev is a businessman originally from Dnipro who began importing cosmetics and household chemicals in the 1990s. He later founded the Alef Group, which grew into one of Ukraine's largest privately owned holdings.
His business interests include real estate, agriculture, construction materials, logistics, and other sectors. According to publicly available estimates, his fortune exceeded $322 million.
He was regularly included in Forbes Ukraine's list of the country's 100 richest people.
Yermolaiev also renounced his Ukrainian citizenship and obtained a Cypriot passport. In an interview with Forbes, he said that since 2017 he has held only Cypriot citizenship.
He is also regarded as one of Dnipro's leading property developers. His companies developed projects including the Most-City shopping mall, New Center shopping mall, the Prisma and Enigma business centers, and invested in the development of Katerynoslavskyi Boulevard.
The businessman was also featured in the Ukrainska Pravda investigation known as the Monaco Battalion.
In a 2024 interview with RBC-Ukraine, Yermolaiev said that a Russian missile strike destroyed the hangar housing his private jet at Dnipro Airport in April 2022.
Why was he sanctioned
In 2023, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy enacted an National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) decision imposing sanctions on a number of citizens of Cyprus, Ukraine, and Russia, as well as 15 legal entities from temporarily occupied territories that had registered under Russian law.
Yermolaiev was among those sanctioned.
According to an investigation by hromadske, citing Ukraine's Security Service (SBU), the businessman allegedly re-registered his businesses in occupied Crimea under Russian law through intermediaries and paid taxes to the Russian state for years.
As a result, Ukraine imposed 16 separate personal sanctions against him.
The sanctions were introduced for a period of 10 years.
What is known about the attack in Monaco
A powerful explosion occurred on the evening of June 28 on Reverend Père Louis Frolla Street in Monaco, near the entrance to a building undergoing renovation.
According to BFMTV, three people were injured: 58-year-old Vadym Yermolaiev, his wife, and their 13-year-old son.
Бізнесмен Вадим Єрмолаєв та його родина постраждали під час вибуху в Монако. З'явилися нові подробиці замаху:https://t.co/jzZc0t9Ljh#Єрмолаєв #Монако #Yermolayev #Monaco pic.twitter.com/kubOiJQWzu
— РБК-Україна (@rbc_ukraine) June 30, 2026
Emergency services rushed to the scene. All three victims were taken to a hospital in Nice, according to Nice-Matin.
The newspaper reported that Yermolaiev's wife suffered traumatic amputations to both legs and remains in critical condition. Yermolaiev himself sustained burns and shrapnel wounds.
Media reports also noted that the building where the explosion occurred is located near the French border.
Investigators said the suspect was wearing dark clothing and a hat. He fled on foot toward Beausoleil, France, and was captured on surveillance cameras. He was last seen on a quiet street before disappearing from police view and remains the subject of an active manhunt.
Prince Albert II of Monaco, who was in Germany at the time of the explosion, returned to the principality that same evening.
Monaco's Prime Minister Christophe Mirmand described the incident as "the first case in the history of the principality in which such an act has been carried out." He said the explosive device likely contained bolts and metal pellets.
Prosecutors are treating the case as a suspected terrorist attack.
