Police in Monaco and neighboring France launched a manhunt on Tuesday after a homemade bomb exploded in the lobby of a residential building in the principality the night before, seriously wounding a couple and injuring a 13-year-old in what authorities called an unprecedented act of violence in the tiny Mediterranean state.
The device detonated shortly before 9 p.m. Monday on Rue Révérend Père Louis Frolla, according to Monaco's government. The Minister of State said the explosive 'apparently contained bolts and buckshot,' indicating it was designed to maim, and that a suspect had left a bag or package in the building's lobby before leaving. Surveillance video reportedly showed a man dropping a backpack at the entrance shortly before the blast.
Three people were wounded. A couple in their 50s or 60s suffered life-threatening injuries, while a 13-year-old described as very likely related to them was less seriously hurt. The injured woman was taken to a hospital in Nice, across the border in France, while her partner and the teenager remained hospitalized.
One of the gravely wounded was identified as Vadym Yermolaiev, a Ukrainian multimillionaire and longtime Monaco resident. Yermolaiev has been subject to sanctions imposed by Kyiv since December 2023, which Ukrainian security services have linked to alcohol-business activity in Russian-occupied Crimea. His apparent presence among the victims has focused attention on whether the attack was aimed specifically at him.
Monaco's public prosecutor said the explosion was not being investigated as a terrorist attack, suggesting investigators are weighing a targeted, possibly personal or business-related motive rather than ideologically driven violence. The distinction shapes which agencies lead the inquiry and how the manhunt unfolds across the open border with France.
Prince Albert II condemned what he called a 'heinous crime,' and the Minister of State described it as 'a deliberate explosion,' adding that it was, to his knowledge, 'the first time in history that such an act has taken place in the principality.' Monaco, a wealthy enclave of about 38,000 people packed into roughly two square kilometers, is among the most heavily policed and surveilled places in the world, with an extensive network of cameras that investigators are now combing for the suspect's movements.
French and Monegasque authorities said the search extended into France, where the suspect is believed to have fled. As of Tuesday the attacker remained unidentified and at large, and officials had not publicly disclosed a motive. The investigation will hinge on the surveillance footage, the composition of the device and any links between Yermolaiev's business dealings and those who may have wished him harm.