Monaco parcel bomb suspect found dead in Ukraine

The woman suspected of carrying out a parcel bombing in Monaco which injured a sanctioned Ukrainian multi-millionaire and his family has been found dead, Ukraine’s security service (SBU) has said.

A cross-border manhunt had been launched for Anastasiia Berezovska, a Ukrainian woman who officials believed had fled the wealthy city-state after planting the bomb in the entrance hall of an apartment building on 29 June.

The 39-year-old’s body was found buried in a forest in the Kyiv region with gunshot wounds to the head, according to the SBU and Ukraine’s prosecutor general.

Two people, including a current officer within Ukraine’s military intelligence service, have been charged over her murder.

Berezovska arrived in Ukraine two days after the attack on 1 July, the SBU said in its statement, citing law enforcement sources.

Two suspects met Berezovska in a car on a highway in the Kyiv region two days later, the office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general told the BBC.

“The victim traveled a certain distance with them, after which she was killed.”

The SBU said she had communicated with her family and two men after entering Ukraine – a former law enforcement officer and a current officer in Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence, an agency of the Ministry of Defence.

The two men were investigated as possible accomplices in the Monaco attack based on information they repeatedly transferred funds to Berezovska’s “crypto and bank accounts”.

The intelligence officer subsequently confessed to Berezovska’s murder and said he had done so with “another suspect”, the agency said.

Both men have since been charged with “intentional murder committed by prior conspiracy by a group of persons”.

The SBU said a basement room “resembling a torture chamber” had also been found during a search of the former law enforcement officer’s home in the Kyiv region.

Ukraine’s prosecutor general said it had “no evidence” the room had been involved in Berezovska’s case and that it “simply reflect[s] the profile of one of the suspects”.

His office released a video of the room, which showed a mat dotted with what appear to be small spots of blood. Two axes, a pickaxe, tarpaulin spread on the floor and a large bag are also visible.