Ukrainian jailed officer claims Kyiv military intelligence authorised Monaco oligarch bomb plot

From the Newshound archive · first published 9 October 2026.

Vitalii Zhykovych, a former Ukrainian security service officer held in a Kyiv prison, has told the BBC that senior figures in Ukraine's military intelligence agency, HUR, authorised a parcel bomb attack on Russia-linked tycoon Vadym Yermolayev in Monaco. The June 29 blast injured Yermolayev, 58, his partner and his 13-year-old son outside their apartment. Zhykovych claims his superior, Vladyslav Reut, described the plot as approved by his superiors within the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence.

The lead bomber, Anastasiia Berezovska, 39, travelled to Monaco in male disguise before fleeing; her body was discovered in woodland outside Kyiv, dead from a gunshot wound to the head, seven days later.

Reut, himself arrested over Berezovska's murder, accused Zhykovych of firing the first shot that killed her in a forest 60km west of Kyiv.

HUR told the BBC it is 'committed to a full investigation' but refused to address Zhykovych's claims directly.