An explosive device packed with shrapnel seriously injured Ukrainian-born businessman Vadim Ermolaev and two members of his family at the entrance to a residential building in Monaco on Monday evening, according to local media reports.

The explosion occurred shortly before 9pm on Rue Révérend Père Louis Frolla, a street in the principality near the French border. Investigators believe the device had been hidden in a backpack left near the entrance to the building. Monaco’s Minister of State Christophe Mirmand told AFP that the device likely contained bolts and shot, and indicated that authorities were treating the blast as a likely terrorist attack.

Authorities have yet to officially confirm the victims’ identities, but sources close to the investigation told BFMTV that they were the family of “major Ukrainian oligarch” Vadim Ermolaev, a businessman born in Dnepropetrovsk in 1968. Before he renounced Ukrainian citizenship in 2019, Forbes ranked him 35th among the country’s 100 richest men.

Le Figaro also reported that the three victims were all members of Ermolaev's family. The parents, aged between 50 and 60, are reportedly in critical condition, while their 13-year-old son is in stable condition.

A suspect was allegedly caught on CCTV leaving the backpack near the entrance just as several people were entering the building, before fleeing on foot toward Beausoleil, a French commune bordering Monaco. A manhunt was launched after the blast, with the suspect still at large.

The explosion was powerful enough to be heard several blocks away. Monaco authorities also activated the “red plan,” an emergency response protocol used in the event of a sudden incident causing multiple casualties.

“This is the first time in history, to my knowledge, that such an act has occurred in the Principality,” Mirmand said. Eric Ciotti, the mayor of neighboring Nice, described the incident as an “attack.”

“The attack carried out this evening is a tragedy that strikes Monaco,” Ciotti wrote in a post on X. “Thoughts for the victims, their families, and the people of Monaco. Total support for the security forces and emergency services mobilized.”

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