Ukrainian woman who disguised herself as a man is main suspect in Monaco attack

By Issy Ronald, Stephanie Halasz and Camille Knight, CNN

(CNN) — The main suspect in a bomb attack that wounded a Ukrainian tycoon on Monday in Monaco is a Ukrainian woman who disguised herself as a man, local authorities say.

Named as 39-year-old Anastasiia Berezovska in an Interpol Red Notice, she last resided in Germany and has a tattoo, possibly of a snake, running down her right arm from her shoulder to elbow.

After the attack, the suspect fled to neighboring France, then drove to Italy in a German-registered car that had been rented for the operation, prosecutors added.

The sophistication of the bomb used indicates that more than one perpetrator was involved, prosecutors said, adding that two men were arrested in Monaco before being released due to lack of evidence.

The main suspect has been the subject of a manhunt ever since a bomb exploded four days ago in the entranceway of one of Monaco’s fanciest apartment buildings, targeting Ukrainian-born businessman Vadym Yermolaiev, according to CNN’s French affiliate BFMTV.

Shortly after the attack, BFMTV shared a photograph of the reported suspect which media outlets initially assumed was a man running away, wearing a black jumper, light-colored trousers and her hair apparently tucked underneath a black bucket hat.

Yermolaiev, a woman and a child were injured in the blast, Monegasque authorities previously said, without explicitly identifying any of the victims beyond confirming they were from a “family of Ukrainian origin.”

The identity of the woman and child remain unknown, but the injured woman is not Yermolaiev’s wife. She told Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne on Tuesday she was not in the home at the time of the attack and was not hurt.

One victim remains in a life-threatening condition, one is seriously injured and the other sustained minor injuries, prosecutors said Friday. Two other people were wounded by glass debris on the street outside the building.

Although the motive is still unclear, Monaco’s prosecutor Stéphane Thibault previously characterized the bombing as an “attempted assassination,” making it the first bomb assassination attempt ever recorded on Monaco’s highly surveilled, secure streets.

Such violence is incredibly unusual in Monaco, which is half the size of Central Park but has 556 police officers and 1,387 CCTV cameras monitoring the area. It is so secure that there were no homicides, or even attempted murders, last year.

So an attack like this, which prosecutors believe was carefully planned, has shaken the city-state.

Security cameras filmed the suspect scouting the area several times beforehand, wearing the same masculine disguise worn on the night of the attack.

On one day, however, a woman followed the same route and displayed similar behavior, leading prosecutors to conclude she could be the same individual who planted the bomb.

On the night of the attack, the three victims were returning from dinner at a seaside restaurant when the suspect planted a bomb in the entranceway of their building, prosecutors said. The suspect then turned around to check if the victims were nearby and triggered the bomb with a remote control.

Investigations spanning multiple countries are ongoing. German police said Friday they had searched the rental apartment and vehicle of a 39-year-old Ukrainian woman suspected of being connected with the attack and will share evidence with Monegasque authorities.

This story has been updated with developments.

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