A view of the residential building where an explosive device seriously injured three people in Monaco, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)
A parcel bomb blast wounded a Ukrainian oligarch and two others in Monaco on June 29, 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 9 p.m. local 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.”
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.
Public prosecutor Stephane Thibault said a suspect had left a bag or package in the building’s lobby before leaving.
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.
“This is the first time in history, to my knowledge, that such an act has taken place in the principality,” Mirmand said.
Yermolaiev, a multi-millionaire Monaco resident, has been subject to sanctions from Kiev since December 2023, which Ukrainian security services reportedly said stemmed from his alcohol business activity in Russian-occupied Crimea.
