‘Armed and dangerous’ Ukrainian woman is prime suspect in Monaco explosion that critically wounded oligarch, his mistress and son

It turned out that the main suspect behind the bomb explosion in Monaco, which seriously injured an oligarch from his own country, his son and his mistress, was an ‘armed and dangerous’ Ukrainian woman.

International police organization Interpol is preparing to issue a Most Wanted red notice for the attacker, who is in his 30s, after issuing an arrest warrant.

He is said to have targeted 58-year-old billionaire Vadym Yermolaiev, his mistress Anna Nasobina, 46, and their young son on Monday night.

The woman, whose name has not yet been made public, was filmed in front of the ‘Palace of the Sun’, a luxury apartment building owned by Mr Yermolaiev.

In the foyer, just before 9 p.m., a thrown backpack exploded after the woman triggered it with her cell phone.

Following the explosion, Ms. Nasobina’s legs were amputated, while she and Mr. Yermolaiev suffered serious shrapnel wounds and burns.

‘The prime suspect was identified by a witness,’ a source leading the investigation said. ‘A Ukrainian woman in her thirties.’

Footage taken from nearby security cameras shows the woman in a black hat fleeing on foot towards the French border, where there are no checkpoints.

Anna Nasobina (above) is in a ‘serious’ condition, fighting for her life, and her millionaire boyfriend Vadym Yermolaiev and their son were also injured after an explosion in Monaco on Monday.

It was reported that 58-year-old Ukrainian oligarch Vadym Yermolaiev was with his girlfriend living in London, not his wife, when he was injured.

Investigators believe the woman traveled to the French town of Beausoleil and then traveled to Italy.

“He is armed and dangerous and is thought to be with accomplices,” the source said. ‘He should be approached with extreme caution.’

Judicial authorities in both France and Monaco launched a criminal investigation for ‘attempted murder’, ‘placing an explosive device on a public road with criminal intent’ and ‘criminal conspiracy’.

According to the same security sources, cameras first captured the suspect on Monday morning, before he returned to plant the bomb.

One said it was thought he was ‘about 12 meters away’ when he triggered the device.

The injured boy recovered quickly and is now providing evidence to police and prosecutors.

‘He tells them exactly what he saw, even though his memory is very blurry,’ a security source said.

‘He apparently suffered relatively minor burns and shrapnel injuries while his mother bore the full force of the explosion.’

The suspect, caught on security cameras, was caught running away from the scene

Picture: Monaco’s emergency services near the site of the explosion on Monday

Shards of glass in the damaged window of a residential building after Monday’s explosion

Ms. Nasobina has been identified in the past as Yermolaiev’s common-law wife.

He is a Ukrainian national who hails from Yermolaiev’s hometown of Dnipro and spent a lot of time in England.

Nasobina is listed as a director of Wycombe Square Investments LLP in London but was frequently in Monaco, especially during the summer months.

In contrast, Yermolaiev’s wife, Anna Yermolaiev, uses a high-security family villa in the resort town of St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, near the French Riviera, the second most expensive settlement in the world after Monaco.

The suspect is likely to be using a so-called burner phone, which can be purchased relatively cheaply without any identification.

Such phones are frequently used by people who break the law and are destroyed when a crime is committed.

Monaco prosecutor Stéphane Thibault, who is leading the investigation in Monte Carlo, said: ‘We are trying to arrest the suspect.’

In the days and nights since the attack, police and French Army helicopters, searchlights and numerous drones have been seen in the search area.

While there are theories that Ukraine’s SBU security service may be behind the bombing, gangsters’ ‘showdown’ is currently the preferred avenue of investigation.

The blast signaled the first attack of its kind to take place on the so-called Rock tax haven, which is less than two square miles and is considered neutral territory.

Mr. Yermolaiev had made many enemies over the years, and one of the reasons he moved to Monaco was the security it had to offer.

Crimean-Ukrainian businessman Seyar Kurshutov, who spends most of his time in Monaco, said his friend was ‘obsessed with security’.

‘Vadim was living on a knife edge,’ Kurshutov told Le Monde.

Some of Yermolaiev’s most powerful enemies were won over by a ruckus involving fake call centers.

In late 2025, the eldest son of Artur Yermolaiev and Vadim Yermolaiev, aged 35, was arrested in Cyprus for his role in the estimated £100 million scheme.

He was extradited to Estonia, where around 500 clients lost around £5 million each, and sentenced to five years in prison, including four months behind bars.

‘He now lives in Israel,’ said Seyar Kurshutov.

Igor Komarov, a 28-year-old businessman involved in the call center racket, was kidnapped, tortured, killed and dismembered while on holiday in Bali, Indonesia, in March 2026.

Another security source said: ‘The killers were never found. This gives an idea of ​​what kind of enemies Yermolaiev was facing.’