The Monaco bombing suspect has now been publicly named, as Interpol launched an international manhunt on Friday for a 39-year-old Ukrainian woman believed to be behind a rare and shocking attack in the tiny Mediterranean principality. The blast, which reportedly targeted a wealthy Ukrainian businessman with ties to Russia, has sent tremors through one of the world’s most secure and affluent enclaves.

A Suspect Identified

Interpol issued a Red Notice, essentially an international request for arrest, naming Anastasiia Berezovska as the primary suspect in Monday evening’s explosion. The notice describes her as a woman born in Ukraine who most recently lived in Germany, speaks German, and has dark hair. Investigators also noted a distinctive tattoo running down her right arm from shoulder to elbow, possibly depicting a snake.

Authorities in Monaco are seeking her on serious charges, including:

• Attempted murder
• Placing an explosive device in a public place with criminal intent
• Criminal conspiracy

Two photographs released with the notice show a woman in a striped white T-shirt, one of them appearing to capture her on a street holding what looks like an electronic device trailing a cable in her left hand.

How the Attack Unfolded

The explosion tore through the entrance hall of a small apartment building near the French border on Monday evening. According to authorities, someone left a package in the entryway, and the device detonated moments later just as three residents, a couple and a teenager, were walking in.

Officials have declined to formally confirm the victims’ identities, describing them only as a family of Ukrainian origin who appeared to have been deliberately targeted. However, multiple media reports have identified the intended target as Vadym Yermolaiev, a prominent businessman originally from Ukraine, along with his partner and his 13-year-old son.

The human toll has been significant. Prosecutors said Friday that one victim remained in a life-threatening condition, another was seriously injured, and a third sustained minor wounds. Two additional bystanders on the street outside were slightly hurt by flying glass debris.

A Target With a Complicated Past

Yermolaiev, reported to be 58 and now holding Cypriot nationality, is a well-known figure in Ukrainian business circles, associated with real estate development and a range of industrial interests. His background, however, is tangled in geopolitical controversy.

He has said he renounced his Ukrainian citizenship nearly a decade ago, and in December 2023 he was placed under Ukrainian sanctions over business activities tied to Crimea, the peninsula annexed by Russia. That Russia connection has inevitably shaped speculation about who might have wanted to harm him and why.

A Disguise That Fooled Investigators

One of the more remarkable twists in the case involves how the suspect concealed her identity. When investigators first reviewed surveillance footage, they believed they were looking for a heavily built man wearing a dark long-sleeved top, light-colored shorts, and a black bucket hat.

That assumption didn’t hold. A broader examination of CCTV recordings from previous days, combined with witness testimony, redirected the investigation toward a woman who had disguised herself as a man. The revelation underscored the level of planning that appeared to go into the operation.

Signs of a Coordinated Plot

Monaco’s deputy prosecutor, Morgan Raymond, revealed that the bomb was triggered remotely using a remote control, and that the device’s remains were being analyzed in France. He also made clear that authorities suspect the attack was not the work of a single individual.

The relative sophistication of the explosive and the overall method, he said, strongly suggested the person who planted it had help. Investigators have been probing whether the suspect had accomplices or acted on behalf of someone else entirely.

At one stage, two men were detained in connection with the case, but both were later released due to a lack of evidence.

Tracing the Escape

Piecing together the suspect’s movements has been a central focus of the investigation. Authorities identified a vehicle fitted with German license plates that had reportedly been rented specifically for the operation.

From there, they traced her escape route in detail. After the attack, she is believed to have fled from Monaco into neighboring France, then driven into Italy before continuing across several European countries toward her country of residence. Officials said her last known address was in Germany, a nation the prosecutor described as offering particularly active judicial cooperation, a hopeful sign for those pursuing her arrest.

Shock in a Secure Microstate

The bombing has deeply unsettled Monaco, one of the world’s smallest sovereign states and a renowned haven for the ultra-wealthy. Known for its heavy surveillance and tight security, the principality is not a place accustomed to violence of this kind. In fact, prosecutors have characterized the incident as an attempted assassination, reportedly the first bomb-based assassination attempt ever recorded on Monaco’s tightly monitored streets.

Prince Albert II condemned the attack in blunt terms, calling it an odious act and assuring the public that all available services had been mobilized to safeguard security across the principality.

A Broader Pattern of Violence

While the motive behind the Monaco attack remains officially unclear, the incident arrives against a backdrop of escalating covert violence linked to the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Ukraine is believed to have conducted attacks and targeted killings of Russian figures during the conflict, though those operations have largely taken place on Ukrainian or Russian soil. In one notable case in December 2024, Ukraine’s security service claimed responsibility for killing a senior Russian military officer responsible for nuclear, biological, and chemical protection forces.

At the same time, Western intelligence officials have recently warned that Russia has intensified its own campaign of targeted assassinations since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Whether the Monaco bombing fits into either of these broader campaigns, or stems from an entirely separate dispute, remains an open and pressing question.

The Search Continues

For now, Anastasiia Berezovska remains at large, the subject of an international manhunt coordinated through Interpol’s Red Notice system. With a sophisticated plot, a suspected network of accomplices, and a victim whose ties span Ukraine, Russia, and Cyprus, the case has all the hallmarks of a deliberate, carefully executed operation.

As investigators in Monaco, France, and Germany work to piece together the full picture, the attack stands as a stark reminder that even the most secure corners of Europe are not immune to the violence and intrigue rippling outward from the war in the east.