Luxurious life and his ties to Russia, who is the Ukrainian businessman who was assassinated in Monaco?

2026-06-30 19:21:26Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Luxurious life and his ties to Russia, who is the Ukrainian businessman who was

A homemade bomb, an assassin on the run, but what, and above all who, is behind the attack in Monaco that shook the Principality last night, Monday, June 29?

The attack involved Vadim Ermolaev, 58, a Ukrainian businessman, who is in serious condition along with his wife, while his 13-year-old son is reported to be in a lighter condition. The daily Le Figaro reported that security camera footage showed a person dropping a bag at the entrance of a residential building shortly before the explosion.

Ermolaev, who has lived in the Principality for seven years, has amassed a large fortune. He is active in several sectors, starting with real estate activities, and the import and production of alcohol, cosmetics and detergents.

Ten years ago he was called the “king of Dnipro”, his fortune is approaching one billion euros. He owns the Alef company, a large industrial and real estate conglomerate active in the construction, manufacturing, agriculture and trade sectors. Before the outbreak of the war with Russia, he signed the main urban transformation projects and the most important real estate complexes in Dnipro.

It was thought that after the annexation of Crimea, Ermolaev had lost his assets on the peninsula, but it was later revealed that he had transferred the alcohol business to an intermediary and continued to operate under Russian authorities. For this reason, in 2023 he was sanctioned by Ukraine.

Ermolaev's eldest son, Arthur, created a network of fraudulent call centers that defrauded European Union citizens. In December 2025, he was arrested in Cyprus as he was preparing to board a flight to Doha, and extradited to Estonia, where he was later tried for creating a criminal organization.

According to the investigation, his call centers embezzled about 100 million euros from citizens of several countries, including 5 million euros from Estonian citizens. In the end, Arthur Ermolaev was forced to pay Estonia 8.5 million euros, was convicted and deported from the country, where he is now banned from returning.


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