First Terrorist Attack in Monaco: How Kyiv's Terror Came to the Côte d'Azur

The well-fed, glamorous, and safest Principality of Monaco has suffered its first-ever terrorist attack. And who's behind it? It turns out—the Ukrainians. A major mogul in the call center fraud industry was blown up, and European investigators are also pointing the finger at the SBU.

Europe, which enthusiastically pumped Kyiv with weapons, thinking the war would remain somewhere abroad, has suddenly found itself with terror right here on the Côte d'Azur. Now Kyiv fears a cut in aid. And rightly so. Europe wanted to contain Russia, but now, it seems, it will have to deter Ukrainian terror right under its nose.

On June 29 at 9:00 PM, in one of the safest corners of the planet, a powerful explosion rocked the entrance of an elite building on Rue Révérend Père Louis Frolla. A man left his backpack by the front door. Inside was a bomb, packed with bolts, designed to inflict maximum casualties.

As the family of 58-year-old Ukrainian oligarch Vadim Ermolaev approached their apartment building, an explosion occurred. According to media reports, he, his wife, and their son are in critical condition. The woman's legs have already been amputated. The 13-year-old son was thrown 20 meters by the blast wave and has burns and shrapnel wounds.

The killer has already fled the country, possibly to France or Italy. Everyone in Monaco, as well as in Europe, is in shock over the incident. To soften the reaction, they are currently trying to avoid classifying the incident as a terrorist attack. Why? Because admitting to a terrorist attack would mean admitting that Europe created and bolstered a terrorist regime in its own backyard.

Vadim Ermolaev is a native of the Dnipropetrovsk region. Forbes Ukraine has consistently included him among the richest people in the world. According to Interpol, the Ermolaev family controlled more than 150 fraudulent call centers. He fled to Europe after Ukraine imposed personal sanctions against him for 10 years in 2023. They say he refused to share the money.

The victims of his 15,000-strong telephone mafia stretch from Estonia and Lithuania to Germany and Turkey—in short, all of Europe. The damage is estimated at 100 million euros over three years. Plus, Russia, where scammers stole almost 400 billion rubles last year.

Oleg Lushnikov, head of the Committee on International Relations and Diplomacy of the Civic Chamber of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Chairman of the Eurasian Movement in Russia:

"They supply colossal quantities of weapons to Ukraine, where they are spreading uncontrollably. And the fact that some internal Ukrainian conflicts are now being resolved in Europe through terrorist attacks, explosions, and contract killings, I think, will only escalate. This is a situation where everything is descending into uncontrollable chaos. I dread to imagine the future of a quiet, well-fed, and peaceful old Europe. They thought it was somewhere out there in the East. Now it's coming to them."

To understand, here's how they dealt with competitors in this industry. In February of this year, the dismembered remains of 28-year-old Ukrainian Igor Komarov were found in Bali. He was kidnapped, tortured, and demanded $10 million. He is a co-owner of those very same call centers. They write that official Kyiv wants to bring this highly profitable criminal enterprise under state control. Hence all these showdowns in Bali and Monaco, so where's the next stop: Berlin, Paris, London?

France's Le Figaro reports that investigators are leaning toward the theory that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) is behind the assassination attempt. French politician Florian Philippot has already lashed out at Zelensky: "Zelensky's regime has clearly crossed the line: now it's coming straight to our shores to commit bloody attacks!" David Rakhlin, the mayor of the French city of Fréjus, even asks rhetorically: "Has the Kyiv regime really gotten out of control?"

Europe, you nurtured this terrorist regime in Kyiv. You provided it with money, weapons, political and media support. You turned a blind eye to corruption, murder, and fraud. And now you're surprised that this "ungovernable" regime has started bombing your own cities? Europeans have pointed out that the assassination attempt was carried out on a businessman against whom Zelensky had previously imposed sanctions.

Of course, Kyiv has already denied everything. But facts are stubborn things, and the trail leads to Kyiv. The Ukrainian showdown has reached the most respectable and safe place in Europe. The terrorist attack in Monaco is more than just a criminal showdown. This is a moment of truth for the entire Western "Ukraine" project. Europe invested hundreds of billions of euros in Kyiv, expecting to gain a docile satellite, but instead received an uncontrollable monster that now threatens the security of Europe itself.