A bomb attack in Monaco on Monday evening severely injured Anna Nasobina, the reported mistress of exiled Ukrainian oligarch Vadym Yermolaiev. The 46-year-old suffered catastrophic leg injuries and remains in intensive care. Nasobina’s 13-year-old son, who she shares with Yermolaiev, was also reportedly hurt in the explosion.

Initial reports suggested Yermolaiev himself had been injured, along with a child and a second adult believed to be his wife, Anna, 56. However, it has since been clarified that Nasobina was with Yermolaiev at the time of the blast, while his wife was allegedly elsewhere. In statements to Ukrainian media, the wife described the family’s state as one of severe distress. Ukrainian blogger Anatoly Shariy reported that Nasobina “lost her legs and is on the brink of life and death,” though this information has not been independently confirmed.

Monaco police are investigating the incident as a suspected assassination attempt. Authorities said a single suspect planted the explosive device, which was packed with bolts and lead pellets, at the entrance to the residential building where the victims were returning home. Surveillance footage reportedly shows the suspect fleeing on foot toward the nearby French border.

Born in Dnipro, Ukraine, Nasobina is the daughter of a former first deputy state prosecutor of the Dnipropetrovsk region. She studied law at Dnipropetrovsk National University before relocating to London. Since 2023, she has been a director of the UK-based company Wycombe Square Investments LLP and co-founded Club Eclectique, a private members’ and literary-arts society with branches in London and Monaco. Some of the group’s events have featured Russian entertainers with pro-Kremlin affiliations.

Investigators in France are reportedly examining whether the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) may have been involved in the bombing. Some sources suggest the explosion could have been intended as a warning rather than a direct attempt to kill.

Vadym Yermolaiev, 58, has been living in Monaco since 2021. Kyiv imposed sanctions on him in 2023 due to his alleged involvement in an alcohol business operating in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014. Ukrainian authorities have also linked Yermolaiev and his family to an £85 million call center fraud scheme and suggested motives tied to unpaid debts and territorial disputes involving criminal groups in Dnipro. Ukrainian media outlets have reported that the assassination attempt may have resulted from a failed settlement among crime figures.

Yermolaiev has denied accusations of money laundering and other criminal activity. In 2019, he renounced his Ukrainian citizenship and acquired a Cypriot passport. The investigation into the bombing remains ongoing.