On November 6, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) conducted a search of an employee of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense (known as GUR) in the case of an attempt on the life of businessman Vadym Yermolayev in Monaco.
This was reported by the militaryʼs lawyer Masi Nayem.
According to him, during the search, SBU officers broke down the door, knocked the soldier to the ground, and handcuffed him. Nayem claims that law enforcement officers also threatened his client with physical violence.
The lawyer noted that, according to the law, SBU officers were supposed to wait for representatives of GURʼs internal security, but they did not do so.
The search was later completed. The handcuffs were removed from the serviceman, he was not detained or charged. During the search, electronic devices were seized (which, in particular, store official information). The serviceman was also served with a summons for questioning.
The SBU press service confirmed in a comment to Ukrinform that they, together with the National Police, conducted searches within the framework of a case “related to the events of this summer in the Principality of Monaco”. However, they did not provide details, citing that the investigation is still ongoing.
Attempted attack on Vadym Yermolaev in Monaco
Vadym Yermolayev is a Ukrainian businessman, one of the largest developers of Dnipro. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, he has not lived in Ukraine. Since 2023, the National Security and Defense Council has imposed sanctions on him due to his alcohol business in occupied Crimea.
On the evening of June 29, an explosion in a house in Monaco injured Yermolaevʼs family — he, his partner Anna Nasobina, and their 13-year-old son.
Interpol has put 39-year-old Ukrainian Anastasia Berezovska on the wanted list for the attack. The Monaco prosecutorʼs office said the suspect planted explosives, detonated them remotely, and fled to France, then via Italy to Germany, where she lives.
On July 7, Berezovskaʼs body was found in Ukraine. GUR employee Vladyslav Reut and former law enforcement officer Vitaliy Zhykovych were detained on suspicion of her murder. Both have been in custody since July.
According to the investigation, they killed Berezovska after she returned to Ukraine by bus on July 1. The GUR worker confessed to the murder. At the same time, he said that he acted at his own discretion and did not consult with the leadership.
During the search, a basement room resembling a torture chamber was discovered in Zhykovychʼs premises.
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