July 10 (Reuters) – A Ukrainian court has remanded in custody two men accused of killing a woman suspected of carrying out a bomb attack in Monaco that seriously wounded a Ukrainian businessman, Ukraine’s top prosecutor said.
The body of Anastasiia Berezovska, a 39-year-old Ukrainian citizen wanted by Interpol for the June 29 bomb attack, was found with gunshot wounds to the head and pistol cartridges nearby, Ukrainian authorities said on Tuesday.
The authorities said a serving officer in Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) and a former law enforcement officer had been detained on suspicion of killing Berezovska.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the Prosecutor General’s Office said the court in Kyiv had ordered the two suspects to be held in detention without bail.
Ukrainian media, citing court proceedings, said the HUR employee had retracted his confession, saying the other defendant had fired the shots and that he had confessed out of fear for his life.
Ukrainian-born property developer Vadym Yermolaiev, his partner and son were wounded in Monday’s bomb attack, sources said.
Yermolaiev, who took Cypriot nationality seven years ago, was placed under sanctions by Ukraine in 2023, following Russia’s invasion the previous year.
Berezovska was wanted by authorities in Monaco on charges of attempted murder, placing an explosive device in a public place with criminal intent, and criminal conspiracy.
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka in Gdansk, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
