MONACO — Vadym Iermolaiev, his wife, and their 13-year-old child sustained injuries in a parcel bomb explosion outside their Monaco apartment building on a Monday evening. The incident occurred at 9 p.m. on rue Révérend-Père-Louis-Frolla.

Following the explosion, all three individuals were taken to a hospital for treatment. Reports indicated that Mr. Iermolaiev's wife suffered critical injuries. Surveillance footage captured an image of a suspect wearing a black jacket and a bucket hat running from the scene in the direction of Beausoleil, France.

Vadym Iermolaiev, a 58-year-old Ukrainian-born businessman, has an estimated personal fortune of $225 million. He is a real estate developer whose company, the Alef Group, also holds interests in agriculture and vodka production. Born and raised in Dnipro, Ukraine, he relinquished his Ukrainian passport in 2018 to acquire EU citizenship from Cyprus.

Ukraine imposed personal sanctions on Mr. Iermolaiev in 2023. Prior to these sanctions, the SBU security agency investigated him, stating that he continued to trade alcohol in occupied Crimea. The SBU also claimed that he paid millions of dollars in taxes to the Russian treasury. As a result of the sanctions, his assets were frozen, and he was prohibited from conducting business.

Iermolaiev denied the allegations against him in an interview with Ukrainian media. "We lost everything," he said. He also stated that he hired a team of lawyers to pursue the lifting of the sanctions. He publicly condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Iermolaiev stated that a missile strike on Dnipro airport destroyed his private plane and that Chechen militants stole his agricultural machinery. He told RBK Media that he had provided money to Ukraine's armed forces. "I despise our enemies and believe that they will bear responsibility for the grief they brought to Ukrainian land and to my hometown," Iermolaiev said.

In 2024, Iermolaiev transferred some of his assets to his 21-year-old daughter, Sofia Iermolaiev, who resides in London and Cyprus.

The parcel bomb attack on Vadym Iermolaiev and his family occurred after Ukraine imposed personal sanctions on him in 2023, following an investigation by the SBU security agency into his business activities. These sanctions led to the freezing of his assets and a prohibition on his business operations. Mr. Iermolaiev has denied the allegations that led to the sanctions and has taken steps to challenge them legally. The investigation into the suspect's escape towards France indicates an international dimension to the incident.