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A suspect has been identified in the investigation into a parcel bombing that seriously wounded a sanctioned Ukraine-born multi-millionaire and two others in Monaco, the principality’s prosecutor’s office said Thursday.
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“An arrest warrant has been issued for the suspect, who will be the subject of an Interpol Red Notice from this evening,” the prosecutor’s office added.
The announcement comes after authorities on Wednesday that a person was arrested but later released as they “very actively” pursued their probe into the blast.
A statement from the Mediterranean principality’s prosecutor general said the person is a foreign national and was detained in Monaco on Wednesday morning.
They were held in police custody “as further checks were deemed necessary” before being released in the afternoon, it said, giving no further information about the person or why they aroused suspicion.
The explosion at an apartment building entrance happened late on Monday. Authorities haven’t identified any of the injured but said they were a family and that they appeared to have been specifically targeted.
Media reports identified Ukrainian construction tycoon Vadym Yermolaiev as being among the injured.
He has said he renounced his Ukrainian citizenship nearly a decade ago and he was targeted by Ukrainian sanctions in 2023 for ties to Russia. A woman and a child were also hurt.
The prosecutor’s statement said the child has been interviewed in neighbouring France but that the other two victims are still not in a condition to be questioned. One of them is critically injured and their life remains in danger, it said.
It described the blast as an attempted assassination and said French authorities are assisting in the investigation. Analysis of the explosive device and work to identify the bomber is ongoing, it said.
It was not clear why the family was targeted or by whom.
The attack shocked the country on the Mediterranean coast, one of the world’s smallest sovereign states known for its high concentration of wealthy residents.
Monaco’s Prince Albert II described it as “an odious act” and said all public services were mobilised to ensure security.
Additional sources • AP, AFP
