Two men detained over the killing of Anastasiia Berezovska — among them a serving military intelligence officer — Ukrainian media report, deepening the mystery around the attack on Vadym Iermolaiev.

The woman sought by Interpol over the attempted assassination of the sanctioned Ukrainian businessman Vadym Iermolaiev in Monaco has been found shot dead and buried near Kyiv, according to Ukrainian media citing law enforcement sources.

Berezovska is suspected of planting a bomb packed with bolts and buckshot in the foyer of Iermolaiev’s luxury residence  in the Mediterranean principality that injured seven people in Monaco’s first ever terrorist attack.

Three people were seriously injured by the blast, including Iermolaiev’s mistress who reportedly has lost at least one of her legs as a result of the explosion. The motivation for the attack remains unknown.

The body of Anastasiia Berezovska, 39, was discovered outside the Ukrainian capital late on July 6, the news outlet Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing its own sources within the country's law enforcement agencies. She had been shot, the sources said, and her body concealed. Two suspects have been detained in connection with her killing: one described as a serving officer of the Main Directorate of Intelligence, Ukraine's military intelligence agency, the other as a former law enforcement officer.

The killing of Berezovska bolsters speculation that the bombing was a gangland retaliation against the Iermolaiev family. As IntelliNews reported, political and organised crime assassinations are still common in Eastern Europe. While investigators have not speculated on the reason for the Monaco bombing, Iermolaiev has been linked to scam call centres conning Europeans out of tens of millions of euros a year run by organised crime syndicates. Iermolaiev’s son Arthur was arrested and extradited to Estonia early this year where he cut a plea bargain with prosecutors that may have included sharing information on the business that could have led to a retribution attack on his family, say analysts.

Berezovska had been placed on an Interpol red notice on July 3, named by Monaco as the prime suspect in the June 29 blast. Investigators say the attacker initially appeared to be a heavily built man in a dark top and black bucket hat, but a review of CCTV footage and witness testimony led them to conclude the suspect was a woman disguised as a man.

The notice recorded that she was born in Ukraine, spoke German and bore a tattoo, possibly of a snake, along her right arm. She was reported to have been seen in Germany, where police near Frankfurt searched a rented flat and vehicle as the hunt widened across Europe.

The attack itself was extraordinary for Monaco, a microstate of some 38,000 residents with one of the world's lowest crime rates. Shortly before 9pm on June 29, an explosive device left in the lobby of a residential building detonated as three people approached their ground-floor flat. Iermolaiev, 58, suffered shrapnel wounds and burns; his partner was gravely injured and lost a leg to amputation; and his 13-year-old son was also hurt. The bomb, packed with shrapnel to cause maximum injury, was detonated remotely, prosecutors said.

Morgan Raymond, Monaco's deputy prosecutor, said the design of the device and the method pointed to a planned operation, noting that "the person who planted the device did not act alone." Prosecutor General Stéphane Thibault opened an investigation into attempted murder and the placing of an explosive device in a public place, while ruling out terrorism. Prince Albert II called the bombing "an odious act."

France's Le Figaro reported that Monaco investigators were also examining the theory that Ukraine's Security Service had directed the attack, and that it was more likely intended as a warning than an attempt to kill. Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office said on July 3 that it was moving to establish an international investigative group over the "attempted intentional murder" of three people, including a child, and was cooperating with the Monegasque authorities. Neither the Security Service nor military intelligence has commented publicly on the reported detentions.

Iermolaiev is a divisive figure. Born in Dnipro in 1968, he founded the Alef Group in 1995 and became the city's largest property developer, behind landmarks including the Brama tower, once the tallest residential building in Ukraine, with further interests spanning agribusiness, medical equipment and the wine and cognac trade. Forbes valued his fortune at $220mn in 2021, ranking him Ukraine's 45th-richest person. He renounced his Ukrainian citizenship and has held a Cypriot passport since the late 2010s, telling Forbes Ukraine he wanted "international protection."

In December 2023, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy imposed a ten-year sanctions package on him, part of a wider order that Zelenskiy said targeted "those who aid Russia's aggression." Kyiv accused Iermolaiev of continuing to run an alcohol business in Russian-occupied Crimea. He has denied collaborating with Moscow, telling RBC Ukraine in 2024: "We tried to recover our investments [in Crimea] but to no avail." His Crimean assets were seized by Russian authorities in 2023.

The family's legal troubles predate the bombing. In December 2025, Iermolaiev’s son Artur was detained in Cyprus at Interpol's request and later extradited to Estonia, in connection with an investigation into scam call centres run out of Ukraine that reportedly defrauded Estonian citizens of €100mn.