Monaco’s reputation as “one of the safest country on earth” was shattered just before 9 p.m. local time on Monday night when a bomb exploded in the entrance of one of the city state’s fanciest apartment buildings.
The bomb went off as Ukrainian-born oligarch Vadym Yermolaiev, 58, a resident of the building, stepped out onto the street. He was seriously injured. A woman and a 13-year-old child were also seriously hurt in the first bomb assassination attempt ever recorded on Monaco’s highly-surveilled streets.
Prince Albert II, Monaco’s head of state since 2005 and the son of Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace (Kelly), described the bombing as “an odious act” as he mobilized Monaco’s police officers and security services to hunt for the attacker, and ordered a step-up in already very regular police street patrols to reassure the country’s wealthy residents.
The police have launched an investigation into “attempted premeditated murder and placing an explosive device in a public area.”
Christophe Mirmand, Monaco’s minister of state, said it was “the first time in history that such an act has taken place in the principality,” and noted that CCTV showed the suspect “had walked around the area several times while waiting for the victims.”
