Vitalii Zhykovych, a former officer of the security services linked to the June bomb attack in Monaco, told the BBC from his prison cell that the attack was ordered by senior officials of HUR, the Ukrainian military intelligence agency. The interview was facilitated by his lawyer, and Zhykovych spoke publicly for the first time since his arrest, at a detention hearing in Ky where he was surrounded by heavily armed guards. The BBC was the only media outlet present.
According to his claims, an active HUR officer, Vladyslav Reut, 'proposed the operation' in Monaco against the Ukrainian businessman Vadym Yermolenko, and the operation was approved and authorised by Reut's superiors in the Main Intelligence Directorate. Zhykovych claims that Reut requested that Anastasia Berezovskaya, a woman seen on camera placing the bomb, be used, but that he refused because she was not fully trained. He states that Reut agreed to send Berezovskaya on reconnaissance, that he communicated directly with her without his involvement, and that he provided the explosives. He describes himself as a 'freelancer' for the Ukrainian security service SBU, and Berezovskaya as his 'agent'.
Yermolenko and his 13-year-old son were seriously injured in the explosion, while his partner suffered severe injuries. Yermolenko described his survival as 'nothing short of a miracle'. He was attacked while returning from dinner with his family by the sea; surveillance footage shows Berezovskaya walking slightly ahead of the group and leaving the device in a bag on their doorstep, the device activating as they approached. Yermolenko later stated that he believed active officers of HUR, 'individuals close to the current and former leadership of the agency', were linked to the attack, and called for 'truth, protection and justice'.
Berezovskaya was identified as the suspect, and on 2 July Interpol released her image from the CCTV footage. She had already fled, first driving through Italy and Germany, and then by bus from Frankfurt to Ukraine. A week after the bomb attack, her body was found in a forest west of Kyiv, with gunshot wounds to the head. Zhykovych claims that he did not send her to kill, nor did he kill her, but he is arrested and charged with the murder of Berezovskaya, along with Reut. Reut initially confessed to investigators and led them to the shallow grave, but on the following day in court he changed his testimony and blamed Zhykovych. Each of the two men blames the other for the shooting. Reut had told the investigators that the bomb attack was in retaliation for 'funding the annexation of Crimea', which he understood as Yermolenko paying taxes to Russia from business on Russian-occupied Crimea. Yermolenko denied having any remaining business interests linked to Russia. At the hearing, Zhykovych said that Reut had told him the attack in Monaco was not 'authorised', with the words: 'Someone ordered this target from the civilian side', without explanation. The judge interrupted, reminding him that he was speaking in open court. He also revealed that Reut had spoken of two targets, but could not reveal the second name; other sources strongly suggest that the second target was a Russian blogger convicted in absentia last year in Ukraine for treason.
The BBC asked HUR for comment on the latest claims. HUR had previously stated that it was 'committed to a full investigation' and providing 'full support' to the law enforcement agencies. SBU described Zhykovych in a statement only as 'a former law enforcement officer'. The case has sparked intense speculation about who Yermolenko might have offended and why, including whether it was a state-ordered assassination, a rogue operation, or a criminal feud. Yermolenko renounced his Ukrainian passport a few years ago and now holds Cypriot citizenship, having rejected several theories, including the idea that the attack was linked to the involvement of organised crime groups in the entry of lucrative scam call-centres in Ukraine. Earlier this year, a court in Estonia sentenced Yermolenko's son Artur to fraud against Estonian citizens for millions of euros, but Vadym Yermolenko told the newspaper Ukrainska Pravda that 'he had never had anything to do with' the case.
Berezovskaya, 39, had been in Germany since the beginning of 2022 and left Ukraine as a refugee with her young son. Zhykovych claims that Berezovskaya led a double life, working for him as an agent 'against Moscow', which means Russia.
