Monaco and France search for suspect after bomb attack injures several in Monaco

Monaco, Monaco. Police in Monaco and neighboring France were searching on Tuesday for a man suspected of detonating a makeshift bomb in Monaco that wounded several people. Two of the victims suffered life-threatening injuries in the attack on Monday evening, Monaco Minister of State Christophe Mirmand told BFM TV.

Cross-border search underway

French emergency services were deployed to the scene to provide support, and a joint police operation was underway to track down the fugitive, France’s interior ministry said.

Mirmand told BFM TV that no event of this nature had ever happened before in the principality.

Blast in central Monaco

The explosion occurred shortly before 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Monday in the center of Monaco, the tax-free microstate on the French Riviera.

French newspaper Le Figaro reported that video surveillance footage showed a man dropping a backpack at the entrance of a residential building shortly before the blast.

Reported target of the attack

BFM TV and Le Figaro said the intended target was Vadym Yermolaiev, described as a major real estate developer in Dnipro. According to the reports, he left Ukraine several years ago, renounced his Ukrainian citizenship, and became a citizen of Cyprus.

The reports said he was placed under Ukrainian sanctions in December 2023.

Officials describe device and attack

BFM TV, citing the principality’s prosecutor general, described the explosive device as a “parcel bomb.”

Prince Albert of Monaco described the attack as “an odious act.”