Ukrainian security officer 'retracts confession' over killing of Monaco bomb suspect

There has been a new twist in the case of a Ukrainian woman who was found dead after allegedly carrying out a bombing in Monaco just days earlier.

Anastasiia Berezovska, 39, was the subject of an international manhunt after the 29 June blast which was said to have targeted Vadym Iermolaiev, a Ukrainian tycoon with links to Russia.

But she was later found dead in Ukraine on 6 July, the country's security service said, alleging that a serving security officer had carried out the killing and confessed.

Two men - a serving officer in Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) ​and a former law enforcement ⁠officer - were detained on suspicion ⁠of killing Berezovska.

Now, according to Ukrainian media, the HUR officer has retracted his confession and accused his fellow defendant of firing the shots.

The officer said he had confessed out of fear for his life.

A court in Kyiv ordered that both men have been detained without bail.

Much of what happened, including how Berezovska allegedly knew the two men and who, if anyone, ordered the Monaco attack, remains unclear.

According to Ukraine's security service (SBU), she arrived back in Ukraine on 1 July, a few days after the bombing.

There she made contact with members of her family and the two suspects, it is alleged.

The SBU said it has information that both men repeatedly transferred money to Berezovska's cryptocurrency wallets and bank accounts, possibly implicating them as accomplices in the attempted murder in Monaco.

The SBU said that, during these investigations, the serving HUR officer stated that he had killed Berezovska together with the other suspect.

He also said that he had not informed his superiors about his contacts with Berezovska, the money transfers to her, or any of his other actions, and that he had acted on his own initiative, the SBU alleged.

Berezovska's body was found with gunshot wounds to the head along with spent pistol cartridge cases.

(c) Sky News 2026: Ukrainian security officer 'retracts confession' over killing of Monaco bomb suspect