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 with gunshot wounds to the head, according to the SBU.
Two people including a current officer within Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) have been detained on suspicion of murder.
Officials said they found a basement “resembling a torture chamber” in a home in the Kyiv region while investigating.
A pink mat dotted with what appear to be small spots of blood can be seen in a video of the room released by Ukraine’s prosecutor general. Two axes, a pickaxe, tarpaulin spread on the floor and a large bag are also visible.
Berezovska arrived in Ukraine two days after the attack on 1 July, the SBU said in its statement, citing law enforcement sources.
There, she communicated with her family and two men – a former law enforcement officer and a current officer in the MoD’s main intelligence directorate.
The two men were investigated as possible accomplices in the Monaco attack based on information that 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.
It said the basement room had been found during a search of the former law enforcement officer’s home.
“Both suspects were detained on suspicion of committing murder with premeditation by a group of individuals.”
An investigation is ongoing with the “personal assistance” of the head of the intelligence directorate Oleg Ivashchenko.
