Anatolij Sharij's July 2, 2026, post made several claims about the Monaco bombing that injured Ukrainian-born tycoon Vadym Yermolaiev and his family on June 29, 2026. The central assertions were that a Ukrainian woman was part of the bombing group, she had been identified, she lives in Germany, and the attack was an SBU operation.
Early reporting from The Guardian and other outlets described CCTV footage showing a lone suspect in dark clothing dropping a package in the lobby and fleeing toward the French border. Monaco's public prosecutor, Stéphane Thibault, stated authorities were searching for a single suspect and treating the incident as attempted murder. None of these initial reports specified the suspect's gender or nationality.
However, a report from Echo24.cz, citing Le Figaro and France Télévisions, now identifies the main suspect as a woman, specifically an approximately 30-year-old Ukrainian. According to these sources, the identification is based primarily on witness testimony, and CCTV footage captured the suspect on a small square opposite the oligarch's residence shortly before the explosion. French broadcaster bfmtv reported that the suspect conducted several reconnaissance missions on the day of the incident, followed the Ukrainian family near Place des Moulins, placed the bomb in a bag at the entrance, and remotely detonated it when the family entered the building. The suspect may have fled to Italy with possible accomplices, according to a source close to France Télévisions.
This new evidence directly contradicts the earlier characterization of the suspect as a man and supports the core of Sharij's claim that a Ukrainian woman was involved and has been identified. The claim that she lives in Germany, however, remains unsupported by any available reporting.
Regarding the SBU attribution, bfmtv reports that investigators are pursuing two main leads: organized crime or a foreign operation. The New Voice of Ukraine, citing Le Figaro, noted that investigators are probing a possible SBU link, viewing the attack as a "warning" to Yermolaiev. However, a detailed Guardian profile of the victim quotes multiple sources who dismissed the idea of SBU involvement, describing Yermolaiev as having "no ideology" and "zero political views" and suggesting the attack might be connected to alleged call-center scams involving the victim's family. The claim that the attack was definitively an SBU operation therefore remains an unconfirmed investigative theory, not an established fact.
In summary, the new reporting from Le Figaro and French broadcasters substantially changes the picture: the suspect is now identified as a Ukrainian woman, supporting the main factual claim. The SBU attribution remains contested, and the detail about the suspect living in Germany is unsupported.
