RUSSIA PERSPECTIVE

Moscow, July 9, 2026. The death of Anastasiia Berezovska, the main suspect in the June 29 bombing in Monaco against Ukrainian businessman Vadim Yermolaiev, has sparked a narrative in Moscow that points to Kyiv rather than the Monégasque judicial investigation. According to the TASS agency, citing Ukrainian media outlet Strana, the operation against Yermolaiev allegedly cost its sponsors around $150,000. "8,000 dollars were paid to Anastasia Berezovskaya, and an additional $5,000 was allocated for transportation costs," the publication reports, specifying that the funds were transferred through cryptocurrency wallets and bank accounts. The identity of the sponsor has not been revealed.

Berezovska's body was found near Kyiv, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) announced, which then arrested two suspects in the case: an active officer from the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR), attached to the 9th specialized department for drone strikes, and a former member of Ukraine's law enforcement agencies. Rada deputy Alexei Goncharenko - classified as "terrorist and extremist" by Moscow - specified that the officer's name was Reut and that he "confessed to the murder of Berezovskaya, committed with another suspect."

The daily Vedomosti, citing Ukrainska Pravda, highlights that Strana raises the possibility that this murder aims to "erase the traces" of the organizers of the Monaco attack. The arrest of active or former agents of Ukrainian security structures is presented, according to this narrative, as an element reinforcing the hypothesis of Ukrainian authorities' involvement in the attempted assassination of Yermolaiev.

Russian media recall the context of the June 29 explosion: a backpack bomb, filled with bolts and lead, remotely detonated at the entrance of a Monégasque building as passersby were entering, injuring three people, including Yermolaiev, a Cypriot businessman whom some media outlets present as linked to a network of fraudulent call centers in Ukraine. This troubled profile of the target fuels, on the Russian side, the idea of an internal settlement of scores rather than an isolated attack, the identity of the true sponsor remaining unestablished at this stage.