Monaco bomb suspect still at large as manhunt extends into France, investigators probe Ukrainian security service link
A manhunt is underway for a suspect who planted a backpack explosive in a Monaco apartment lobby, seriously wounding Ukrainian-born oligarch Vadim Ermolaev, his partner and their 13-year-old son. The attacker fled on foot to the French town of Beausoleil, where his trail went cold.
The attack
On the evening of Monday 29 June, a man placed a backpack containing an explosive device in the entrance hall of a residential building on Rue Révérend-Père-Louis-Frolla in Monaco. Moments later, Vadim Ermolaev, 58, was returning with a woman and a teenage boy when the device detonated. CCTV footage shows the suspect, dressed in a black top, beige trousers and a black bucket hat, running from the scene towards the French border.
Victims
All three were rushed to Pasteur Hospital in Nice. Ermolaev suffered multiple shrapnel wounds but his life is no longer in danger. The woman, identified as Anna Nasobina, 46, a London-based Ukrainian lawyer and Ermolaev’s long-term partner, sustained the most severe injuries. Both legs were amputated, and her condition remained life‑threatening as of Tuesday.
They were returning home peacefully.
The 13‑year‑old boy was less seriously hurt. While initial reports described Nasobina as Ermolaev’s wife, the actual spouse later denied being present, and multiple outlets identified the injured woman as his mistress.
The suspect and the chase
Monaco’s public prosecutor confirmed the attacker left the bag in the lobby and fled on foot, crossing into the neighbouring French commune of Beausoleil within minutes. Despite reviewing footage from roughly 1 000 surveillance cameras in the principality, investigators had not identified the suspect by Wednesday morning. A coordinated search involving Monaco’s police and France’s judicial police (DNPJ) and domestic intelligence (DGSI) is ongoing.
We are pursuing him to identify and arrest him, I hope quickly.
Telephone data is being examined after the suspect was seen with a mobile phone on CCTV.
- Suspect places backpack in lobby of Rue Révérend-Père-Louis-Frolla building; explosion injures three.
- Victims taken to Pasteur Hospital in Nice; woman undergoes double leg amputation.
- Monaco prosecutor opens enquiry for attempted murder; suspect seen fleeing to Beausoleil on CCTV.
- Second day of manhunt; unidentified suspect still at large; French DNPJ and DGSI join investigation.
Investigation and motives
Monaco opened a flagrance inquiry for attempted murder and placing an explosive device on a public road, explicitly ruling out a terrorist motive. The Nice prosecutor’s office later added charges of criminal association and possession of explosives. French media report that investigators are exploring a possible connection to Ukraine’s SBU security service, though no hypothesis has been confirmed. One source told Le Figaro the attack appeared more like a “warning” than a deliberate killing.
Ermolaev, now a Cypriot citizen, has been under Ukrainian sanctions since December 2023 for business activities in Russian‑annexed Crimea. The public prosecutor stated there was no active criminal investigation against him in Monaco, nor any known threat.
