One of Ukraine's richest men is said to be fighting for his life after a shrapnel-filled backpack bomb exploded at a luxury apartment in Monaco.
Vadim Ermolaev, also known as Vadym Yermolaiev, sustained life-threatening injuries when he was 'targeted' around 9pm on Monday night.
A second victim, described as a woman in her 50s or 60s, is thought to be Ermolaev's wife Anna. Witnesses say she had 'her feet missing', and was 'slumped over, covered in blood' following the blast.
A 13-year-old thought to be one of the couple's four children suffered less severe injuries, and the three victims were taken to hospital in Nice.
Grim photos from the scene show the blood-splattered entry of the Sun's Palace apartment block on Rue Révérend Père Louis Frolla, near the French border.
An attacker is said to have planted a backpack full of nuts and bolts not long before the explosion.
In the hours after the blast, police were still searching for the suspect, who allegedly fled on foot to Beausoleil, France. They are yet to confirm any arrests.
Ermolaev, who was a major real estate developer in Dnipro, left Ukraine several years ago, renounced his Ukrainian citizenship and became a citizen of Cyprus.
The 58-year-old oligarch was placed under Ukrainian sanctions in December 2023 for selling alcohol in Russian-occupied Crimea.
The suspect captured fleeing the scene on CCTV
Shards of glass on a damaged window of a residential building, following an explosion on Monday, in Monaco, June 30
One victim has been named locally as Vadim Ermolaev (pictured) - who is ranked among Ukraine's wealthiest men
It is believed all three victims were in the building's entrance when the backpack blew up.
The bomb, understood to be a 'deliberate explosion', was left in a bag by a male suspect wearing a black hat and tracksuit top, and white jeans and trainers.
Video footage posted online appeared to show him running away from the scene.
A manhunt for the suspect has since been launched by police in Monaco. An aide to France's Interior Minister, Laurent Nunez, said police were working 'to find the perpetrator, who has fled'.
A witness described seeing a 'little boy' at the site, who was 'lying on the ground, covered in blood, with someone trying to help him'.
Emergency services treated four other people for shock and cuts from windows shattered in the blast.
Marine Cotta, a neighbour who witnessed the explosion, said the noise was 'like fireworks'.
She said: 'I could hear the police, alarms, and fire trucks, and that's when I thought: "Okay, something is going on."'
Three Ukrainian nationals including an oligarch fleeing the war against Russia were seriously wounded when a bomb exploded in the centre of Monaco (Pictured: Sun's Palace on Rue Révérend Père Louis Frolla, where the bomb detonated)
Police stop motorists after a blast from an explosive device injured multiple people at a residential building in Monaco, late Monday, June 29
Monaco police officers patrol near the site of the explosion
A manhunt for the suspect, who is said to have fled after planting the device, has since been launched by police in Monaco
A Ukrainian woman in 'their 50s or 60s' and a teenager have also been hospitalised following the blast
Christophe Mirmand, Monaco's Minister of State, earlier said the detonation appeared to be 'an attack', but later dropped that term, describing it as a 'deliberate explosion'.
He said: 'The explosive device likely contained bolts and shrapnel.
'The three victims were in the building's entrance when the device exploded. It is presumed that they belonged to the same family.
'Police services are currently gathering evidence. To my knowledge, this is the first time in history that such an act has occurred in the principality.'
Monaco's Prince Albert II described the incident as a 'heinous crime' and 'a shock to the entire Monegasque community'.
BFM TV described the explosive device as a 'parcel bomb', citing the principality's prosecutor general.
Ermolaev is among the around 100 Ukrainian oligarchs who have fled the war with Russia to live on the French Riviera.
On his Instagram, he defines himself as a businessman and investor.
Born in 1968 in Dnipro, formerly Dnipropetrovsk, a major industrial metropolis in the east of the country, he studied economics before completing his military service in the Soviet army.
He made his fortune as a real estate developer and founded what would become the Alef Group, a conglomerate active in property, agribusiness, construction materials, and manufacturing.
Many Ukrainian media outlets and Forbes magazine have featured him as one of the businessmen who most profoundly transformed Dnipro's urban landscape.
He was behind the development of the Most-City shopping centre, the largest in Ukraine when it opened in 2006, as well as numerous office buildings, shopping plazas, and residential complexes.
But the real estate magnate's career is also marked by numerous controversies.
In 2019, he renounced his Ukrainian citizenship to obtain Cypriot citizenship, and in December 2023 Ukraine imposed sanctions on him, including asset restrictions.
According to several Ukrainian media outlets, the sanctions were prompted by suspicions concerning some of his business activities stemming from the period preceding the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022.
The multimillionaire allegedly continued alcohol trading activities in Crimea under Russian occupation. Ermolaev rejected any accusations of wrongdoing.
Like many oligarchs who became rich following the fall of the Soviet Union, he has faced accusations of criminality, including money laundering, which he denies.
Ermolaev has four children – two boys and two girls – with wife Anna, who is a dentist and charity worker.
In recent years, the family has been living in luxury in Monte Carlo, where they have a very high profile.
Ermolaev was known for parking his Ukrainian-registered Bentley outside the Monte Carlo Casino Square.
He also owned a super yacht flying the Ukrainian flag and owned a high-security villa in nearby Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat.
Monaco is a globally famous tax haven on the French Riviera full of high-worth residents.
It prides itself on its crime-free reputation, and attracts billionaire business people and celebrities from all over the world.
But there have been numerous corruption scandals on the so-called Rock in recent years, including allegations of money laundering by mafia-style gangs, including ones from Ukraine.
Prince Albert, the ruler of Monaco, has pledged to clamp down on corruption, with the help of the French authorities.
Despite Monaco's independence, its defence is primarily the responsibility of the government in Paris.
