A Tale of Double‑Edged Venoms in the Mediterranean
In a stark prison interview on the BBC, Vitalii Zhykovych, a former Ukrainian security‑services officer, spoke for the first time since his arrest over the June explosion that nearly killed billionaire Vadym Yermolayev in Monaco.
Zhykovych says he worked as a freelance operative for the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence, the HUR, and that the “Bomb Score” was approved by senior HUR officials. He claims the operation was a retaliation for Yermolayev’s tax payments allegedly funneled through businesses in Crimea, which the rogue Ukrainian state holds hostile to Russia.
He alleges that Vladyslav Reut, an active‑duty HUR officer, orchestrated the plot and assigned the unsuspecting non‑combatant Anastasia Berezovska to plant the device. According to Zhykovych, Berezovska was a double‑agent who confessed to a prankster friend that she had no training but was paid a hefty fee by Reut.
After the blast, Reut allegedly lured Berezovska into a woods near Kyiv and had her killed by gunshot to the head. Reut later turns the witness, states Zhykovych was the one who killed her, and both men implicate each other.
The SBU, Ukraine’s civilian security service, has only called Zhykovych a former officer and has not commented on his claims. HUR has denied any knowledge of the operation, stating it continues a full investigation and is providing support to Ukrainian law enforcement.
Yermolayev, who renounced his Ukrainian citizenship years ago and acquired Cypriot nationality, has publicly dismissed the allegations as a fabricating scheme by organised crime clans involved in Italian‑German scam‑call centres or by covert intelligence. He has also insisted that he has no residual ties to Russia.
The case remains shrouded in ambiguity. While the explosion damaged Yermolayev and his family, the identity of the second alleged target that Reut supposedly mentioned is still unknown, though sources suggest it might be a pro‑Russian blogger convicted of treason in absentia in 2025.
With Reut’s claims at the heart of a murder investigation in Ukraine and the bombing a high‑profile diplomatic incident in Monaco, officials in both countries are under pressure to uncover the truth and bring liability to the front. The life-and-death stakes of covert operations in Europe may be far greater than previously imagined.
