The woman who lost both legs in the Monaco bomb blast that targeted Ukrainian oligarch Vadim Ermolaev was not his wife but his long-term mistress, with whom he has a 13-year-old son who was also wounded in the explosion, according to reports from Ukrainian sources.
Anna Nasobina, 46, who describes herself as London-based, is fighting for her life in a serious condition after the shrapnel bomb detonated at the entrance to a residential building on Rue Révérend-Père-Louis-Frolla on the evening of 29 June. Initial reports had identified the injured woman as Ermolaev’s wife, also named Anna, but Ukrainian state media outlet Suspilne confirmed she was abroad at the time of the attack and was not harmed.
Ukrainian political blogger Anatoly Shariy said: “During the explosion with Ermolaev, it was not his wife. It was this woman who lost her legs and is on the brink of life and death. Ermolaev was with his mistress, Anna Nasobina. She has been with him for a long time. They have a common child of 13 years.” Ermolaev’s official wife, who is the mother of four of his other children, told Ukrainian state media: “We are currently in a state of severe stress and are actively cooperating with the investigation and law enforcement agencies.”
Nasobina, originally from Dnipro in Ukraine, studied law at Dnipropetrovsk National University before completing a course at an International Institute of Management. She has been director of UK company Wycombe Square Investments LLP since 2023 and is co-founder of Club Éclectique, a private members’ and literary arts society registered on Oxford Street with a linked Monaco office, established in 2016. The club’s events have featured Russian entertainers with pro-Kremlin ties, with attendees drawn from the Moscow diaspora in London. She is also the daughter of the former first deputy state prosecutor of the Dnipropetrovsk region.
French investigators are now examining the possible involvement of Ukraine’s Security Service in the suspected assassination attempt, according to reports in France. Investigators are also considering whether the blast may have been intended as a “warning” rather than a deliberate attempt to kill. Ukrainian police sources have alleged the attack is directly linked to a network of fraudulent call centres in Dnipro, reportedly used to carry out large-scale financial scams across Europe, with the Ermolaev family alleged to have played a significant role in the scheme.
Ukrainian outlet Ukrainska Pravda reported that the attack stemmed from a failed agreement to divide territory and unpaid debts allegedly owed to organised crime figures in Dnipro. Ermolaev, 58, has been living in Monaco since 2021. He renounced his Ukrainian citizenship in 2019 and obtained a Cypriot passport, and was subjected to personal sanctions by Kyiv in December 2023.
A suspect remains at large. An aide to France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez confirmed police were working “to find the perpetrator, who has fled.” There was also a claim in the Nice-Matin newspaper that Ermolaev had planned to deliver a speech to the European Parliament alleging corruption in Ukraine. His legal assistant in Monaco, Theo Koshlyakov, said: “To date, no legal proceedings have been initiated against Yermolayev in any jurisdiction.”
