Monaco Bomb Attack: Inside the Kyiv Intelligence Scandal

For months, those implicated in the plot remained silent. Now, breaking his silence from a Kyiv prison cell, Vitalii Zhykovych—a former freelancer for Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU)—has given an exclusive, explosive account to the BBC. His testimony paints a chilling picture of the Vadym Yermolayev assassination attempt, implicating active-duty officers of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) and raising uncomfortable questions about the reach and control of the country’s security services during wartime.

The Anatomy of the Monaco Bomb Attack

The attack itself was executed with terrifying precision. On a warm June evening, Yermolayev and his family were returning to their residence after dining along the Monaco seafront. Surveillance footage captured a woman, later identified as 39-year-old Ukrainian refugee Anastasia Berezovska, walking slightly ahead of the group. With practiced ease, she deposited a bag containing an improvised explosive device on their doorstep and walked away.

The detonation was massive. The force of the blast shocked even Berezovska, who can be seen flinching on camera as the device exploded. While Yermolayev and his young son survived what the businessman later described as ‘nothing short of a miracle,’ his partner suffered catastrophic, life-altering injuries. The French authorities immediately launched an international manhunt, and by early July, Interpol had circulated Berezovska’s image worldwide.

‘We were walking home, a normal summer evening, and in a split second, our lives were shattered. This was not a warning; it was designed to wipe us out.’
— Vadym Yermolayev

By the time her face appeared on Interpol notices, Berezovska was already gone. She had fled Monaco, driving through Italy and Germany before boarding a bus from Frankfurt back to Ukraine. She was seeking a promised payout of $50,000—a sum she hoped would secure a flat for her and her young son. Instead, she was met by her handlers, driven into the dense pine forests west of Kyiv, and shot in the head. Her shallow grave was discovered a week later, sparking a high-profile Anastasia Berezovska murder investigation that would lead directly to the doorstep of Ukraine’s intelligence elite.

The Kyiv Security Services Scandal: Who Ordered the Hit?

The fallout from the murder has triggered a massive Kyiv security services scandal. Ukrainian authorities arrested two men in connection with Berezovska’s execution: Vitalii Zhykovych and Vladyslav Reut, an active-duty officer with the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence (HUR). The case took a dramatic turn when Reut, who initially confessed to the murder and led investigators to Berezovska’s body, recanted his testimony in court, placing the blame entirely on Zhykovych.

Speaking from his custody hearing in Kyiv, Zhykovych has fired back with his own detailed allegations. He claims that Reut—whom he referred to as ‘The Boss’—was the mastermind behind the Monaco operation. According to Zhykovych, Reut presented the hit on Yermolayev as an officially sanctioned state mission. Zhykovych maintains that he believed he was acting in the service of his country, utilizing Berezovska, whom he described as his ‘agent,’ for what he thought was a simple reconnaissance mission.

The table below outlines the starkly conflicting narratives presented by the key figures in this rapidly escalating investigation:

Rogue Operations vs. State-Sanctioned Actions

The core question hanging over the entire investigation is whether the attack was an official, albeit highly illegal, state-sanctioned operation, or one of several suspected Ukrainian intelligence rogue operations. During his custody hearing, Zhykovych’s testimony wavered. While he initially claimed the operation was authorized by HUR high command as retaliation for Yermolayev allegedly paying taxes to Russian authorities in occupied Crimea, he later admitted that Reut had confessed the target was ‘not authorized’ and had been ordered by a ‘civilian side’ client.

This admission points to a much darker possibility: that elements within Ukraine’s security services are operating as guns-for-hire, utilizing the cover of wartime patriotism to carry out lucrative contract killings. As Reuters has previously reported on the complex web of post-Soviet business interests, the line between state security, organized crime, and private enterprise in Eastern Europe can often become dangerously blurred.

The Crimea Connection and the ‘Offisy’ Shadow Economy

Yermolayev, who renounced his Ukrainian passport years ago and now holds Cypriot citizenship, has vehemently denied any ongoing business interests in Russian-occupied Crimea. He has dismissed the accusation of funding the annexation as a convenient cover story used by his attackers to justify a private hit.

Instead, industry insiders and investigators are looking closely at another potential motive: the highly lucrative and violent world of Ukrainian ‘offisy’—scam call centers that defraud European citizens of millions of euros. Earlier this year, an Estonian court convicted Yermolayev’s son, Artur, of running a massive scam network. While the elder Yermolayev has denied any involvement in these illicit operations, the sheer volume of cash flowing through these criminal networks has previously sparked violent turf wars. A hit in Monaco, disguised as a patriotic act of war, would serve as the ultimate cover for a criminal dispute.

A Double Life in the Shadows

For the family of Anastasia Berezovska, the revelations have brought little comfort. Berezovska had fled Ukraine in 2022 as a refugee, settling in Germany with her young son. To her family and neighbors, she was a mother trying to rebuild her life. To Zhykovych, she was an operative working ‘against Muscovy.’

Her husband has dismissed Zhykovych’s claims of her being an intelligence asset as ‘complete nonsense,’ believing instead that she was manipulated, out of financial desperation, into carrying out a task she did not fully understand. Her tragic end—lured back to her homeland only to be executed by the very men who sent her—highlights the brutal human cost of this shadow war.

The Geopolitical Fallout of the Monaco Bomb Attack

As the joint investigation by French and Ukrainian authorities continues, the diplomatic stakes could not be higher. Ukraine is heavily reliant on Western military and intelligence cooperation. Revelations that active-duty HUR officers may be involved in contract bombings on European Union soil threaten to strain these vital alliances.

The SBU has sought to distance itself from the scandal, releasing a terse statement describing Zhykovych merely as a ‘former law enforcement officer.’ Meanwhile, the HUR has stated it is ‘committed to a full investigation’ and is providing ‘comprehensive support’ to civilian law enforcement. Yet, with key suspects changing their stories and pointing fingers at the highest levels of military intelligence, the pressure for transparency is mounting.

For Vadym Yermolayev, the search for answers remains personal. ‘I want the truth, protection, and justice,’ he said in a recent statement. But in a case where patriotism, organized crime, and state intelligence collide, finding the absolute truth may prove to be the most difficult task of all.

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