Monaco bomb victim directly blames Ukrainian spies for horror attack which 'blew partner's legs off'

The multimillionaire victim of a bombing in Monaco has blamed Ukrainian spies for the attack, thought to have destroyed both of his partner's legs.

Vadim Ermolaiev, a Ukrainian property tycoon, his partner Anna Nasobina and their 13-year-old son were injured when a bomb exploded at the entrance to the Sun Palace apartment building.

Now the multimillionaire, who fled to the tax haven after war broke out, has directly said Ukrainian intelligence was involved in the horror attack.

"Based on the investigative evidence available to us, we have no doubt that serving officers of the main intelligence directorate of the ministry of defence of Ukraine, commonly known as Hur, were directly involved in this attempted assassination," Mr Ermolaiev said in a statement released by his lawyers.

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The Ukrainian, who made his money in the city of Dnipro, alleged former or serving senior Hur officials were aware of the plot.

The suspect, Ukrainian woman Anastasiia Berezovska, was found dead in the woods outside Kyiv.

Vladyslav Reut, a serving Hur officer, led Ukrainian investigators to her grave and initially admitted to killing her.

But he went on to retract his confession and accused co-defendant Vitalii Zhykovych of being the one to pull the trigger.

Vitalii Zhykovych formerly worked for Ukraine's SBU security service.

The two men appeared in a Ukrainian court charged with premeditated murder for behaving "jointly and in coordinated fashion".

Both men have denied any guilt.

Mr Ermolaiev was sanctioned in 2023 by Ukraine for conducting business in Russian-annexed Crimea.

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The Monaco resident said Ms Nasobina had suffered "catastrophic and irreversible injuries", while their son suffered burns, fractures and other serious injuries.

He added: "I remain in intensive care and am only now beginning the long process of recovery.

"This was not a warning. It was an attempt to kill not only me, but my family as well."

Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Hur, denied the allegations, which he described as "subjective political statements", warning the remarks would damage the investigation into the blast.

Volodymyr Zelensky last week said more information around the blast would be revealed in the days to come.

The Ukrainian President is now reshuffling his cabinet, firing his Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov and replacing his Prime Minister.

Mr Zelensky appointed Major General Yevhenii Khamra, the acting head of the SBU, as interim defence chief on Thursday.

Protests broke out in response to Mr Fedorov's firing, with youth protesters chanting "Hands off Fedorov!" and "Stop sabotaging victory!"

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