Suspect linked to Monaco bomb attack on millionaire breaks silence to BBC
Vitalii Zhykovych gives his own account of the attempted assassination of Ukrainian-born businessman Vadym Yermolayev.
A former Ukrainian security services officer has broken his silence to the BBC regarding a bomb attack in Monaco, targeting multi-millionaire Vadym Yermolayev and his family. The suspect, Vitalii Zhykovych, claims he was ordered to carry out the attack by senior members of HUR, Ukraine's military intelligence agency. Yermolayev, his 13-year-old son, and his partner were severely injured in the explosion, while Yermolayev's partner suffered catastrophic injuries.
Zhykovych describes himself as a freelancer for Ukraine's SBU security service and alleges that Anastasia Berezovska, the woman caught on camera planting the bomb, was his agent. Berezovska was later found dead in the woods west of Kyiv with gunshot wounds to the head. Zhykovych maintains that he did not send Berezovska to kill and did not kill her himself.
He alleges that the operation was proposed by an intelligence officer named Vladyslav Reut, who initially confessed to investigators and even led them to a shallow grave where Berezovska's body was found. However, Reut later changed his testimony and blamed Zhykovych. Zhykovych claims that Reut had asked to use Berezovska for the bombing, but when he refused, Reut agreed to send her for reconnaissance instead.
Reut then communicated directly with Berezovska without involving Zhykovych, providing her with explosives.
Written by urgent.news from BBC World's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
