Monaco's deputy prosecutor says the main suspect in a parcel bombing was a woman "disguised as a man." Her name is Anastasiia Berezovska, she is 39, she speaks German, and Interpol has issued a Red Notice asking all 196 member countries to arrest her.
The package was left in the entrance hall of an apartment building just before 21:00 on Monday. It exploded moments later, as three residents were walking in. All three were seriously hurt: two adults went to Nice University Hospital, and a 13-year-old boy was admitted with minor injuries to a children's hospital nearby.
Who the victims were
Monaco has not officially confirmed the victims, but local reports identify the target as Vadym Yermolaiev, a 58-year-old real estate developer living in the city-state. He renounced his Ukrainian citizenship in 2019 and is now a Cypriot citizen, has interests in the wine and alcohol business in Russian-annexed Crimea, and has been under sanctions since 2023. Prince Albert II of Monaco called the attack a "heinous crime."
What's confirmed, and what isn't
The disguise line is real and it comes from an official: deputy prosecutor Morgan Raymond. CCTV caught the suspect in a dark bucket hat, and Interpol's own photos show a woman with dark shoulder-length hair and a tattoo on her right arm that officers say "possibly" depicts a snake. Note the hedge. That "snake tattoo," which reads like a thriller detail, is a maybe, not a confirmed identifying mark.
Here's the mechanics of how she got away. Investigators say Berezovska spent several days casing the residence, left on foot after dropping the parcel, then picked up a hire car and drove through Italy to Germany. On Thursday, special forces in Hesse searched a rented apartment and seized a vehicle in the Main-Taunus district, handing evidence to Monaco. She is still on the run.
Where the internet is running ahead of the record is on the "who hired her" question. Ukrainian blogger Anatolii Sharii posted that he had traced the "hired killer" and that her databases, group chats, and even her parents' social accounts had been wiped before the attack. [1]
“I found information about the hired killer. I found what was still left. To understand the level of preparation before the murder: not only were the databases on the killer wiped, but all of her conversations in the groups where she was registered were erased, and the social media accounts not only of her, but also of her parents, were wiped. We have already found practically everything about her.”
Treat that as an unverified claim from a partisan online figure, not as fact. Monaco's prosecutor has only said investigators are also looking for "possible accomplices." No hiring party, motive, or contract has been officially established.
What's next: an international arrest warrant is active across Interpol's member states, and the suspect's whereabouts are unknown.
Sources
Primary source: Ukrainian suspect hunted by police after Monaco bomb attack was 'disguised as a man'
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