Vitalii Zhykovych has claimed from a Ukrainian prison cell that the bomb plot targeting a Russia-linked oligarch in Monaco carried official authorization from Kyiv’s intelligence leadership.
Zhykovych, who faces murder charges for executing the bomber after the failed attack, said in a Thursday interview that former intelligence officer Vladyslav Reut had presented the operation as fully sanctioned. “As Reut informed me, this operation had been authorized and approved by [his] superiors, who served in the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense,” he said. Zhykovych referred to Reut throughout as “The Boss.”
The 47-year-old former security officer went further, alleging that intelligence officers “close to the [intelligence] agency’s current and former leadership” were tied to the conspiracy. He offered no additional evidence for that claim.
Zhykovych’s account marks a dramatic reversal from his testimony in a July court hearing, held weeks after the assassination attempt. “Someone had ordered this target from the civilian side,” he said in that earlier appearance, a statement that seemed to deflect suspicion away from government officials. The contradiction between his two accounts has not been explained.
Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, known as HUR, responded to the BBC with a pledge of transparency but no direct rebuttal. The agency said it is “committed to a full investigation,” declining to address Zhykovych’s specific allegations about leadership involvement.
The target of the June 29 bombing was Vadym Yermolaiev, a Ukrainian tycoon sanctioned by Kyiv over business dealings in Russian-occupied Crimea. Yermolaiev, his partner Anna Nasobina, and his 13-year-old son were all injured when a parcel bomb detonated outside his Monaco apartment. The device had been planted by Anastasiaa Berezovska, whom Zhykovych described as his “agent.”
Zhykovych said he and Berezovska connected online and were working together to “repel the armed aggression of the Russian Federation.” According to prosecutors cited by Ukrainska Pravda, Berezovska had spent weeks traveling across Europe to avoid detection before returning to Ukraine on July 3 for personal reasons. She was waiting by a motorway when two men collected her.
The execution unfolded on July 7. Zhykovych loaded the gun during the drive to the kill site. Upon arrival, he distracted Berezovska while Reut fired fatal shots into the back of her head. Her body was buried in woodland and the weapon was discarded in nearby water.
Berezovska had disguised herself in a bucket hat to appear male when she planted the explosive. She called Zhykovych the day after the blast and claimed she had carried out the attack to collect a large payment from Reut. “$50,000 doesn’t just lie on the streets,” she reportedly said.
The motive behind the bombing remains contested. Zhykovych said that Reut had framed the attack as vengeance for Yermolaiev “funding the annexation” of Crimea. “In my view, this constitutes grounds for the operation,” Zhykovych said.
During interrogation, Reut reportedly admitted to sending explosive components to Berezovska while she was living in Germany ahead of the Monaco attack. Zhykovych, however, insisted she lacked the specialized training to assemble the device herself.
Berezovska had faced an Interpol red notice and charges including attempted murder, placing an explosive device in a public place with criminal intent, and criminal conspiracy.
The case has drawn international attention both for its brazen violence in the wealthy European principality and for the emerging questions about potential state links to an assassination attempt on a private citizen. Yermolaiev’s sanctioning by Kyiv stemmed from his commercial activities in Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, but he has not been convicted of any crime related to funding the occupation.
Zhykovych remains in Ukrainian custody as the investigation continues.