Parcel bomb blast wounds Ukrainian oligarch and two others in Monaco

A PARCEL BOMB blast wounded a Ukrainian oligarch and two others in Monaco on Monday, authorities said, in an unprecedented act that has rocked the super-safe principality.

A couple and a teenager were wounded in the explosion that struck around 9pm local time (8pm Irish time) in a residential building on a street along the border with France.

A source close to the investigation who asked not to be named told AFP that one of those wounded was Ukrainian oligarch Vadym Yermolaiev.

Monaco’s Prince Albert II described the incident as a “heinous crime” and “a shock to the entire Monegasque community”.

An aide to France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said police were working “to find the perpetrator, who has fled”.

A couple in their 50s or 60s suffered life-threatening injuries, while a 13-year-old suffered less serious injuries in the explosion, Monaco’s Minister of State Christophe Mirmand said, without disclosing their identities.

He said the teenager was “very likely related” to the pair.

An AFP photographer at the scene saw a heavy police presence with access to the area cordoned off, while a helicopter circled overhead.

Around 50 firefighters and 80 security personnel were deployed at the scene.

Bolts, buckshot

Public prosecutor Stephane Thibault said a suspect had left a bag or package in the building’s lobby before leaving.

Nothing appeared for the moment to indicate why the building might have been targeted, he added.

The Monaco government said the “strong explosion” was caused by a “parcel bomb”.

“A suspect was seen on video surveillance fleeing towards the municipality of Beausoleil in France,” it wrote on X.

Advertisement

Mirmand said witnesses had provided information to identify the suspect.

The explosive device apparently contained bolts and buckshot, Mirmand said.

Emergency services treated four other people for shock and cuts from windows shattered in the blast, he said.

“This is the first time in history, to my knowledge, that such an act has taken place in the principality,” he added.

Yermolaiev, a multi-millionaire Monaco resident, has been subject to sanctions from Kyiv since December 2023, which Ukrainian security services reportedly said stemmed from his alcohol business activity in Russian-occupied Crimea.

Mirmand told a news conference late Monday that intelligence services were working to understand the victims’ background and “determine if others might be facing specific threats”.

He said the prosecutor would give another news briefing today.

Ukraine drones

Meanwhile, Russia shot down 419 Ukrainian drones across the country overnight, the defence ministry said this morning.

Kyiv has stepped up its long-range drone strike campaign against Russia in recent months, particularly against energy infrastructure to target a vital source of the Kremlin’s revenue to fund its war effort, now in its fifth year.

Air defence systems “intercepted and destroyed 419 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles” around the country, the defence ministry posted on the state-run Max platform.

It did not say if there were any deaths or injuries.

Moscow’s Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said earlier that air defence forces had shot down 50 “enemy drones” overnight headed for the capital.

The swarm came days after Russia shot down 660 Ukrainian drones between Thursday and Friday, one of the highest figures since the start of the conflict.

A Ukrainian attack also caused a fire last week at a refinery in the southeast of Moscow.

- © AFP 2026