One of Ukraine’s richest men is said to be fighting for his life after a shrapnel-filled backpack bomb exploded outside their luxury residence in Monaco.
Vadim Ermolaev, also known as Vadym Yermolaiev, was reportedly seriously hurt alongside his wife and teenage son when they were ‘targeted’ on Monday night.
Grim photos from the scene show the blood-splattered entry of the Sun’s Palace on Rue Révérend Père Louis Frolla, near the French border.
Authorities are investigating the blast as a deliberate attack and are conducting a manhunt for the suspect who fled into France.
An attacker is said to have planted a backpack full of nuts and bolts not long before the explosion. In the hours after the blast, police were still be searching for the suspect.
They are yet to confirm any arrests. The Ukrainian billionaire has been named by multiple sources and sites, including the Monaco Matin, as one of the victims.
He had left his home country following the start of the latest fighting with Russia.
A second victim, described as a woman in her 50s or 60s, is thought to be Ermolaev’s wife Anna.
Witnesses have claimed they spotted her as having ‘her feet missing,’ and ‘slumped over, covered in blood’ following the blast.
The third victim has been identified as a 13-year-old boy – thought to be one of the couple’s four children.
It is believed all three were in the building’s entrance at the time the backpack blew up.
