In brief
In Kyiv a former GUR agent, Vladyslav Reut, has altered his statement about an alleged murder tied to a contested Monaco bomb case, denying that he shot the woman involved and attributing the act to his partner Vitalii Zhykovych. Both men, connected to Ukrainian security services, face pre‑murder charges and remain detained. Their accounts have opened questions about the true motive for the Monaco attack and the possibility of foreign interference. The case remains under investigation with Ukrainian authorities recalling additional reports they intend to release.
On a Thursday court hearing in Kyiv, Vladyslav Reut—once a decorated officer in Ukraine’s GUR intelligence unit—claimed he had not pulled a trigger on the woman suspected of being behind a bomb attack in Monaco. Reut first gave police a confession that led investigators to the gravesite of Anastasiia Berezovska, a 39‑year‑old who had died days after the blast, but later reversed course, imputing the murder to his co‑defendant, former SBU officer Vitalii Zhykovych.
The two men had been connected by phone records and material transfers to Berezovska’s accounts, prompting swift arrests. Reut entered the courtroom with the other suspect’s hands cuffed, both wearing hoods and face masks, and sat in a glass cage under heavy security as cameras streamed the proceedings.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would release further information on the case in the coming days, but no clear motive emerged. The blast in Monaco targeted businessman Vadim Yermolayev, a former Ukrainian citizen now sanctioned for business in Crimea, but the reasons for targeting him remain unclear.
Reut’s latest understanding is that Zhykovych forced him to shoot, citing the threat that “if anything happens to me, my relatives are in danger.” He also alleges the weapon was loaded as a precaution. Zhykovych’s lawyer repeatedly stated that his client did not kill anyone and described him as a patriot who fought in the eastern front in 2014 and later defended the Kyiv region during the 2022‑present invasion.
