Monaco bomb mystery deepens as Ukraine’s security services are linked to murder of prime suspect

One of the suspects in the murder of Anastasia Berezovska is brought into court for a hearing in Kyiv on Thursday. Photograph: Genya Savilov/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen One of the suspects in the murder of Anastasia Berezovska is brought into court for a hearing in Kyiv on Thursday. Photograph: Genya Savilov/AFP/Getty Images Monaco bomb mystery deepens as Ukraine’s security services are linked to murder of prime suspect Military intelligence officer admits witnessing killing of woman believed to have left explosive device outside oligarch’s home The case of a suspected bomber accused of targeting a Ukrainian oligarch has taken another murky turn, after details of her subsequent murder were revealed in court with evidence suggesting the involvement of Kyiv’s intelligence agencies. French police last week named Anastasia Berezovska as the person captured on CCTV leaving a rucksack outside a Monaco apartment block. It blew up, injuring the Ukrainian businessman Vadym Iermolaiev as he emerged from the building with his partner and their 13-year-old child. Prosecutors said that Berezovska, 39, who had disguised herself as a man, fled in a car with German registration plates, crossing into France and then Italy. On 1 July, she travelled to Ukraine, catching a bus to her home town of Zhytomyr, west of Kyiv. Officials announced on Tuesday that her body had been found in woods near the capital. View image in fullscreen An image released by Interpol of Anastasia Berezovska in Monaco, where she allegedly planted a bomb. Photograph: Interpol/AFP/Getty Images According to Ukraine’s SBU intelligence agency, Berezovska was met by two men, who had made payments to her bank and crypto accounts. One of them, Vladyslav Reut, appeared in court on Thursday, accused of her murder. Reut identified his alleged accomplice as Vitaliy Zhykovych, a former Kyiv region policeman. Ukrainian media reported that Reut, 33, studied law at the national university in Kyiv, and worked for Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency. He served in unit A2772, a training centre for special operations forces, Radio Liberty reported . Appearing in a Kyiv court on Thursday, Reut claimed Zhykovych was responsible for Berezovska’s cold-blooded killing. The two men took her at gunpoint to a forest near the village of Yuriv, 60km (40 miles) west of the capital. “Zhykovych fired the first shot at her in the back of the head. She fell down. He came up and fired another shot. I was standing a few metres away at that moment,” Reut told the judge. He said four shots were fired before Zhykovych forced him to dig a hole, took all of Berezovska’s personal belongings and removed her trainers. He added: “I will insist on taking a polygraph to prove my innocence.” Zhykovych’s lawyer, Anatoliy Ivanov, said his client denied the allegations. The SBU said it found Berezovska’s body after the men confessed and its officers recovered bullet casings from the forest. It also published grainy footag