Ukrainian oligarch Vadim Ermolaev, 58, was reportedly with his London-based lover, not his wife, when he was wounded in a suspected assassination bid in Monaco.
Anna Nasobina, 46, and their son, 13, were with him when her legs were blown off in an explosion at a residential building, say reports.
She is in a ‘serious condition’ fighting for her life, and Ermolaev and their son were also wounded.
Initial reports said Ermolaev’s wife, also named Anna, who is the mother of four of his children, had been wounded in the blast.
But Ukrainian sources say she was abroad at the time and it was Nasobina, his long time partner, who was badly injured.
Anna, 56, told Ukrainian state media outlet Suspline: ‘We are currently in a state of severe stress and are actively cooperating with the investigation and law enforcement agencies.’
Anatoly Shariy, a Ukrainian political blogger, said: ‘During the explosion with Ermolaev, it was not his wife.
‘It was this woman who lost her legs and is on the brink of life and death.’
Nasobina (pictured) is in a ‘serious condition’ fighting for her life, and Ermolaev and their son were also wounded
Nasobina, 46, and their son, 13, were with the oligarch when her legs were blown off
Nasobina is the daughter of the former first deputy state prosecutor of Dnipropetrovsk region
Ukrainian oligarch Vadim Ermolaev, 58, was reportedly with his London-based lover, not his wife, when he was wounded
He said: ‘Ermolaev was with his mistress, Anna Nasobina. She has been with him for a long time. They have a common child of 13 years.’
The Suspline report stated: ‘Businessman Vadim Ermolaev’s official wife, near whose [residential] building in Monaco an explosion occurred on the evening of 29 June, was not injured and was physically in another place.
‘From its own sources in law enforcement, Suspilne learned that the other woman is in serious condition.’
Some reports said that Ermolaev and Nasobina were married but most say he remained wed to Anna.
Nasobina is from Dnipro in Ukraine, and studied law at Dnipropetrovsk National University, followed by an International Institute of Management.
She describes herself as ‘London-based’ and has been the director of UK company Wycombe Square Investments LLP since 2023, using the spelling ‘Hanna’ for her first name.
She is co-founder of Club Éclectique, a private members’ and literary-arts society registered in Oxford Street with a linked Monaco office. It was established in 2016.
The club’s events feature Russian entertainers with pro-Kremlin ties, and attendees include members of the Moscow diaspora in London.
She is the daughter of the former first deputy state prosecutor of Dnipropetrovsk region.
Reports today in France suggest that investigators are examining the possible involvement of the Security Service of Ukraine [SBU] in the suspected assassination bid, which left Ermolaev, Nasobina and their son wounded.
The blast may have been a ‘warning’ rather than a deliberate attempt at murder.
Nasobina is from Dnipro in Ukraine, and studied law at Dnipropetrovsk National University
She describes herself as ‘London-based’ and has been the director of UK company Wycombe Square Investments LLP since 2023
She is co-founder of Club Éclectique, a private members’ and literary-arts society registered in Oxford Street
The entrance of a residential building in Monaco, 30 June 2026, where a bomb wounded Ermolaev
Ukrainian police said previously that the oligarch may have been blown up over his alleged links to a €100million call centre fraud scheme.
Police sources claimed that the violent attack is directly linked to a network of fraudulent call centres in Dnipro, Ukraine, allegedly used to carry out large-scale financial scams across Europe.
The Ermolaev family is alleged to have played a significant role in the scheme, with the oligarch’s name reportedly at the centre of a sprawling pan-European investigation into clandestine call centres operating out of Ukraine.
Ukrainian outlet Ukrainska Pravda reported that the attempted assassination stemmed from a failed agreement to divide territory and unpaid debts allegedly owed to organised crime bosses in Dnipro.
Ermolaev has been living in the principality since 2021, according to reports.
In 2019, he renounced his Ukrainian citizenship and obtained a Cypriot passport, and in December 2023, he was subjected to personal sanctions by Kyiv.
France is assisting in a search for the suspect. An aide to France’s Interior Minister, Laurent Nuñez, said yesterday that police were working ‘to find the perpetrator, who has fled’.
There was a claim in Nice-Matin news outlet that Ermolaev planned to deliver a speech to the European Parliament alleging corruption in Ukraine.
‘To date, no legal proceedings have been initiated against Yermolayev in any jurisdiction,’ said Theo Koshlyakov, the businessman’s legal assistant in Monaco.
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