Deliberate Explosion Shakes Monaco, Injuring Three Including Minor

Three individuals, including a minor, sustained injuries in an explosion at a residential building in Monaco on Monday, which authorities have classified as a deliberately executed act.

A source familiar with the investigation, speaking anonymously to Agence France-Presse, identified one of the injured as Vadim Yermolaiev, a prominent Ukrainian businessman.

Initially, Monaco's Minister of State, Christophe Mirman, described the explosion as appearing to be an "attack," but later retracted this term, referring to the incident instead as a "deliberate explosion."

The blast occurred around 9 p.m. local time (19:00 GMT) in a residential building located on a street bordering France.

One of the aides to French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez stated that police are actively searching for the perpetrator, who fled the scene.

Prosecutor Stéphane Thibault reported that a suspect left a bag or package in the building’s lobby before departing, adding that no motive for targeting this particular building has been established so far.

Minister Mirman indicated that a couple in their fifties or sixties were critically injured in the explosion, while a 13-year-old minor, believed to be closely related to the couple, suffered less severe wounds; he did not disclose their nationalities.

Mirman also noted that the explosive device apparently contained nails and small iron balls.

He remarked, "To my knowledge, this is the first time in the principality’s history that such an act has occurred," and mentioned that the prosecutor will hold a press briefing on Tuesday.