A former Ukrainian security officer charged with murdering the would-be assassin who tried to blow up a Russia-linked oligarch in Monaco claimed he was told that the Kyiv regime green-lit the plot.
Vitalii Zhykovych, who is holed up in a Ukrainian prison over the July killing, claimed former intelligence officer Vladyslav Reut’s idea “proposed the operation” to try and kill sanctioned Ukrainian tycoon Vadym Yermolaiev, the BBC reported Thursday.
“As Reut informed me, this operation had been authorized and approved by [his] superiors, who served in the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense,” he told the outlet, while also referring to Reut as “The Boss.”
Zhykovych sensationally claimed that intelligence officers “close to the [intelligence] agency’s current and former leadership,” were linked to the bomb plot, without providing further evidence.
What Zhykovych told the BBC is different from what he claimed in a July court hearing — weeks after the assassination attempt.
“Someone had ordered this target from the civilian side,” he said in court, appearing to shut down speculation that it had been ordered by government officials.
Ukraine’s intelligence agency, HUR, told the BBC it is “committed to a full investigation,” refusing to address Zhykovych’s claims directly.
Yermolaiev, his partner, Anna Nasobina, and his 13-year-old son were injured as a result of the explosion, triggered by a parcel bomb that was planted outside his apartment on June 29 by Anastasiaa Berezovska, whom Zhykovych described as his “agent.”
The murder suspect revealed he and Berezovska met online and were working to “repel the armed aggression of the Russian Federation.”
Berezovska, who disguised herself as a man by wearing a bucket hat, reportedly called Zhykovych the day after the blast – during which she claimed she planted the explosive to receive a large amount of money from Reut.
“$50,000 doesn’t just lie on the streets,” she claimed.
The motive behind the blast still remains murky – but Yermolaiev was sanctioned by Kyiv over business dealings in Russia-occupied Crimea.
Zhykovych revealed he was told by Reut the bomb plot was revenge for “funding the annexation” of the region.
“In my view, this constitutes grounds for the operation,” he said.
Berezovska was found with gunshot wounds to her head in Kyiv on July 7 – a week after the explosion.
She faced charges of attempted murder, placing an explosive device in a public place with criminal intent and criminal conspiracy over the blast in the principality.
An Interpol red notice was out for her arrest in connection with the bombing.
Berezovska, who traveled across Europe trying to evade arrest, returned to Ukraine on July 3 for personal reasons and was by the side of a motorway when she was collected by the two men, prosecutors said, according to Ukrainska Pravda.
Zhykovych loaded the gun en route to the kill location.
When they arrived, he distracted her while Reut fired the fatal shots in the back of her head.
Berezovska was buried in the woodland while the gun was thrown into some nearby water.
During interrogation, Reut reportedly admitted to sending components of the explosive to Berezovska while she was living in Germany before she carried out the attempted assassination in Monaco, Pravda reported.
But Zhykovych claimed she couldn’t build the explosive as she didn’t undergo the specialist training required to do so.
