Interpol issues red notice for Ukrainian woman suspected of Monaco bomb attack on oligarch Vadim Ermolaev
Anastasia Berezovska, 39, is wanted for attempted murder after placing a remote-controlled explosive at the home of Ukrainian businessman Vadim Ermolaev. She fled through France and Italy and may have reached Switzerland.
The attack
On Monday evening, a bomb exploded on the steps of a residential building in Monaco as Ukrainian oligarch Vadim Ermolaev and two family members returned from dinner. The vice prosecutor of Monaco, Morgan Raymonod, told reporters that the suspect had waited on a bench at Place des Moulins, then placed the device from her bag onto the entrance steps. She detonated it by remote control after confirming the victims were on the stairs.
When she saw the victims she got up and placed an explosive device taken from her bag on the entrance steps of the residential building they were heading towards. She then turned to make sure the three victims were on the steps and set off the bomb using a remote control.
The suspect
Investigators initially described the attacker as a man in a black jacket and dark bob hat, but a witness near Ermolaev's home led them to identify a woman. The suspect is Anastasia Berezovska, a 39-year-old Ukrainian national known to authorities for ties to organised crime. She lives in Frankfurt, Germany, but was not present at her registered address when police arrived. Interpol published two photos showing a dark-haired woman with a possible snake tattoo on her right upper arm; her spoken language is German.
The facts seem to indicate that the suspect did not act alone.
The escape route
Surveillance footage from public and private cameras in the Principality allowed Monegasque and French investigators to reconstruct her movements. After the explosion she walked to Beausoleil, just across the French border, where she picked up a car rented in Germany with German plates. She then drove towards Menton and crossed into Italy at Ventimiglia on the same day. Informed sources say she continued directly to Switzerland.
- Bomb explodes at Vadim Ermolaev's residence in Monaco; suspect flees on foot to France.
- Investigators identify the suspect as a Ukrainian woman; media report she has been located in a European country outside Monaco and France.
- Interpol issues a red notice for Anastasia Berezovska; Monaco prosecutor holds press conference detailing the attack and escape route.
International manhunt
Late on 2 July the Monaco prosecutor's office announced the identification of the suspect. By the morning of 3 July Interpol had issued a red notice for her arrest on charges of attempted murder, placing an explosive device on a public road with criminal intent, and criminal association. The search is worldwide, with police cooperation activated at the request of Monaco's judicial authorities. French media reported that the woman had been located in a European country other than Monaco or France, and later reports indicated she had been spotted in Germany.
She is a person capable of disguising herself to look like a man.
