Ukraine searches intelligence employee's premises in Monaco assassination inquiry
The Security Service of Ukraine confirmed searches in Kyiv linked to the attempted assassination of businessman Vadym Yermolaiev, after a lawyer challenged how officers searched his client's premises.
By Yuki Kaminski ·
Ukrainian security officers searched the premises of a Defence Intelligence of Ukraine employee on the morning of 6 November as part of an investigation into the attempted assassination of businessman Vadym Yermolaiev in Monaco, according to lawyer Masi Nayyem. The Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SSU, subsequently confirmed that searches connected to the case were taking place in Kyiv.
Nayyem said on Facebook that he was representing the serviceman and had arrived at the scene. He alleged that SSU officers broke down the door, forced his client to the ground and handcuffed him. In a comment to Ukrainska Pravda, the lawyer also said the search was being conducted without a court warrant.
The lawyer further argued that officers were legally required to wait for representatives of Defence Intelligence's internal security service before proceeding. He said they had not done so. The SSU's subsequent statement confirmed investigative activity but did not address the specific allegations about the treatment of Nayyem's client or the search procedure.
The SSU told Ukrainska Pravda that it and the National Police were carrying out investigative measures in Kyiv under the procedural supervision of the Prosecutor General's Office. It said the work concerned the events in Monaco during the summer and was intended to ensure a thorough and impartial investigation. Further details could not be released while the inquiry continued, the service said.
The assassination attempt targeted Yermolaiev, a sanctioned Ukrainian businessman, and members of his family in Monaco at about 21:00 on 29 June. Media reports indicated that investigators in Monaco were considering possible SSU involvement in the attack.
On 3 July, Interpol issued an international wanted notice for Anastasiia Berezovska, a 39-year-old Ukrainian citizen. Monaco law enforcement authorities suspected her of planting an explosive device that seriously injured Yermolaiev and members of his family. On 7 July, it emerged that she had been found murdered and buried near Kyiv.
That same day, Ukrainian authorities announced the arrests of two people suspected of killing Berezovska. Investigators said the men might also have been involved in the Monaco attack, citing evidence of repeated transfers to her cryptocurrency wallets and bank accounts.
Investigators alleged that Defence Intelligence employee Vladyslav Reut and former SSU employee Vitalii Zhykovych murdered Berezovska near Yuriv in Kyiv Oblast on 3 July. Kyiv's Pecherskyi District Court ordered both men held without bail on 9 July.
Sources close to the investigation told Ukrainska Pravda that investigators considered Reut and Zhykovych the organisers of the Monaco attack and alleged that both had acted as Berezovska's handlers. Yermolaiev has accused Ukrainian intelligence of arranging the attempt on his life and those of his family members, and has sought guarantees of protection for them all.
