Who is Vadim Ermolaev, the Ukrainian oligarch targeted by the explosion in Monaco

Three people were injured, two of them very seriously, following the detonation of an explosive device in Monaco on Monday evening. The General Prosecutor's Office has considered that this is "probably a terrorist attack," however, the Monegasque Minister of State, Christophe Mirmand, has called for "caution regarding the legal qualification of the facts."

Two of the victims are Vadim Ermolaev and his partner. This Ukrainian oligarch, born in 1968, previously ranked 23rd in the list of the richest people in Ukraine compiled by Forbes magazine. Vadim Ermolaev is said to have a fortune of over 300 million dollars, at least according to estimates of his wealth before the war began. He built part of his fortune from the production of alcoholic beverages, especially wine, partially produced in Crimea.

Ermolaev was one of those targeted by an investigation into the "Monaco Battalion" - the ironic name given by the Ukrainian press to the businessmen, politicians, and Ukrainian oligarchs who settled on the French Riviera after the Russian invasion. Meanwhile, oligarch Ermolaev is said to have renounced his Ukrainian citizenship in favor of a Cypriot passport.

According to the press, Vadim Ermolaev and his wife, were injured on Monday evening following the powerful explosion that occurred in a residential building in the Principality of Monaco, and are in critical condition.