A Ukrainian woman suspected of being behind the bomb attack on Ukrainian oligarch Vadym Yermolaiev has been found shot dead near Kyiv, Ukrainian prosecutors said.
The body of Anastasiia Berezovska, 39, was discovered at around 11pm local time on Monday (9pm BST), law enforcement sources told Ukrainska Pravda.
Prosecutors said they also detained an employee of Ukraine’s military intelligence service (HUR), who said he killed the woman together with another suspect – reported to be a law enforcement officer.
Last week, the woman was suspected of a parcel bombing in Monaco targeting Mr Yermolaiev, which also injured a woman and child in what police said was a targeted attack on the Rue Révérend-Père-Louis-Frolla.
The trio were said to be “returning home peacefully” in the early evening on Monday when the attack took place, according to the minister of state for Monaco, Christophe Mirmand.
CCTV footage widely published in Ukrainian media appeared to show a man in a black jacket, black bucket hat, white shoes and beige trousers running from the scene moments afterwards, headed in the direction of neighbouring French town Beausoleil.
French authorities later said the suspect was a woman disguised as a man.
The two adults injured in the bombing were rushed to hospital in a critical condition, with the woman having both her legs amputated.
Prosecutors said at the time that it was not believed to be the work of only one person, without giving information on any further suspects.
The picture of Anastasiia Berezovska was first released by Interpol. Prosecutor Stephanie Thibault said the woman used a car with a German licence plate to travel through Italy and several other European countries. Her last official residence was in Germany.
Mr Thibault praised Monaco’s police forces and “effective international criminal cooperation, both police and judicial”, which made it possible “to identify, in a particularly short time, the person suspected of having carried out the attack”.
The report said the suspect remotely triggered the booby-trapped bag, “using an object that resembles a remote control”, when the family came near the bag placed in the lobby.
The motive for the attack remains shrouded in mystery, with several competing claims online.
The head of anti-corruption organisation Public Control, Denis Selin, speculated that Mr Iermolaiev’s business in the occupied territory could be the cause of the assassination attempt.
But sources in Ukrainian police have told Ukrainska Pravda that the attack may instead be linked to his alleged role in a complex separate case involving a fraudulent call centre network in Dnipro. Mr Iermolaiev has denied the allegations.
Sources told the outlet that French investigators believe the attack may have been orchestrated by criminal networks linked to the case.
The call-centre case has been closely linked to Russia, with Chechen criminals known to be behind many of the scams which have seen thousands of Russian pensioners defrauded.
In March, the son of a businessman from Dnipro, Ihor Komarov, was kidnapped by Chechen gangsters in Bali who sought millions of dollars in ransom from his family. His body was found dismembered on the beach, CBS News reported.
But so far, police have not suggested a link between the Monaco explosion and Chechen gangsters.
