Interpol names suspect in Monaco bombing that reportedly targeted Russia-linked Ukrainian tycoon

MONACO (AP) — Interpol on Friday named the suspect in the Monaco bombing that reportedly targeted a Ukrainian tycoon with links to Russia.

It identified Anastasiia Berezovska, a 39-year-old woman from Ukraine, as the suspect in a Red Notice posted on its website seeking her arrest.

Monaco authorities haven’t identified any of the three people wounded in Monday’s explosion at an apartment building entrance but said they are a family and that they appear to have been specifically targeted.

Media reports identified Ukrainian construction tycoon Vadym Yermolaiev as being among the wounded. He has said he renounced his Ukrainian citizenship nearly a decade ago, and he was targeted by Ukrainian sanctions in 2023 for ties to Russia.

A woman and a child were also hurt. One of the victims is still in a life-threatening condition, prosecutors said Friday.

The Interpol notice says the suspect has a tattoo, possibly of a snake, on her right arm from the shoulder to the elbow. It says she was born in Ukraine, has dark hair, and speaks German.

Her arrest is sought by authorities in Monaco for attempted murder, placing an explosive device in a public place with criminal intent, and criminal conspiracy.

Morgan Raymond, the deputy prosecutor in Monaco, said the bomb was detonated from a distance, using a remote control. The remains of the bomb are being analyzed in France, he said.

He added that the suspect was initially identified as a heavily built person appearing to be male, wearing a dark long-sleeved top, light-colored shorts and a black bucket hat. A broader review of CCTV footage from previous days and testimony from a witness redirected the investigation toward a woman disguised as a man.

Eric Arella, Monaco’s director of public security, held up copies of the Interpol wanted notice at the news conference with the prosecutor.

Two photos included in the Interpol wanted notice for Berezovska show a woman wearing a white T-shirt with dark stripes, one of them in a street where she’s holding what appears to be some sort of electronic device, trailing a cable, in her left hand.

The attack shocked the country on the Mediterranean coast, one of the world’s smallest sovereign states known for its high concentration of wealthy residents. Monaco’s Prince Albert II described it as “an odious act” and said all public services were mobilized to ensure security.

Ukraine is believed to have carried out attacks and targeted killings of Russian figures in the course of the war, although those attacks have largely been confined to Ukrainian or Russian territory.

In December 2024, Ukraine's security service claimed responsibility for killing the head of nuclear, biological and chemical military protection forces for the Russian military.

Western intelligence officials have recently said that Russia has ramped up a campaign of targeted killings since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

An investigator examines the scene at the residential building where an explosive device seriously injured three people a day before, in Monaco, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

Investigators examine the scene at the residential building where an explosive device seriously injured three people a day earlier in Monaco, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

An investigator examines the scene at the residential building where an explosive device seriously injured three people a day earlier in Monaco, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

A view of a hospital where, according to reports, three people injured by an an explosive device in Monaco a day before, are being treated, in Nice southern France, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran prepared Friday for the dayslong funeral of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with banners across Tehran urging the public to rise up in support of the Islamic Republic after the devastating war that killed the 86-year-old cleric.

The country's theocracy plans to see millions flood the streets of the capital beginning Saturday in scenes reminiscent to the burial of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989.

That could provide a boost for Iran's government, particularly as it tries to leverage its hold on the Strait of Hormuz in negotiations with the United States over a permanent end to the war, and as concern still lingers that Israel could attack yet again.

Despite that, a powerful general who leads Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard emerged publicly for the first time in months for the funeral. Other top government officials likely will be on hand alongside foreign dignitaries as well in show of strength of Iran.

“As long as these people, who are chosen (by God), are on the field, we will definitely continue the same ‘no to humiliation’ policy that was founded by the Islamic Republic,” said Mohammad Hossein Rezaei, a volunteer preparing for the funeral Friday.

“We will continue our policy of pursuing independence, and decisions will be made inside the country, and the people will decide their own fate,” he said.

Khamenei's flag-draped coffin sat at Tehran's Grand Mosalla alongside family members killed in the Israeli airstrike that came in the first moments of the war on Feb. 28.

The dead being honored include a son-in-law, his eldest daughter, a 14-month-old granddaughter and the wife of Iran's new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the previous leader who remains in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the attack.

Religious leaders and foreign dignitaries walked up to Khamenei’s casket as a military band played or a man sang prayers. Iran's Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and President Masoud Pezeshkian, key leaders in the country's civilian government, all paid their respects.

Video published by Iranian state media showed an earlier mourning ceremony Thursday night for Khamenei. The black-clad mourners, whom state media identified as coming from families of those who lost loved ones in the 12-day war in 2025 and the recent Iran war, threw scarves and other items for attendants to brush against the coffin, a common practice in Iran seen as a blessing.

Later, state media showed images of Khamenei’s casket draped by a red flag with white calligraphy reading “Ya Hussein,” a Shiite expression in remembrance of the 7th-century martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson. It had been flying over the Imam Hussein golden-domed shrine in Karbala, Iraq. The flag also traditionally symbolizes both the spilled blood of someone unjustly killed and a call for vengeance.

Photos published online by Iranian state media showed Gen. Ahmad Vahidi attending a meeting Thursday about the funeral of Khamenei, then sitting alongside his casket as Iran's theocracy held a smaller service for him Thursday night near the supreme leader's former home in downtown Tehran.

Vahidi has become a major player in formulating Iran’s tough stance in negotiating a possible permanent end to the war with the United States, experts say. He hadn't been seen publicly since Feb. 8, weeks before the Iran war began. Israel killed top leaders in Iran’s military and government during the war, and has threatened the life of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei as well. Vahidi is believed to be part of a small clique in direct contact with the younger Khamenei.

It remains unclear whether Khamenei will appear at his father's funeral. His father appeared in 1989 at Khomeini's funeral, weeping visibly, as he began his journey to lead Iran for decades with an iron fist while confronting the West.

Israel repeatedly has threatened to kill Khamenei, something that drew a warning from Iran's joint military command Thursday.

“We warn the enemies of a strong Iran, especially the United States, the Israeli regime and their regional and extraregional accomplices, to avoid any miscalculation and to consider the harsh and regret-inducing responses that the sons of the Iranian nation in the armed forces will give to any threat or aggression against our beloved country,” the military command said.

Beginning Saturday, Iran will hold the dayslong funeral for Khamenei and his body will be transported to cities in both Iran and neighboring Iraq. Authorities plan to shut down streets, airspace and daily life in Tehran as mourners commemorate the life of Khamenei.

In Tehran, images of the late Khamenei's fist could be seen in banners and in a giant statue in Tehran's Enghelab Square, framed by what appeared to be ballistic missiles flying through the air. In his first message to the nation, read by a state television anchor, Mojtaba Khamenei said he saw his father’s body after his death with raised, clenched fist.

The banners read in Arabic, English and Farsi: “We must rise.”

“This fist is the clenched fist of all us Muslims,” taxi driver Jafar Javadi said. “The leader’s fist is a sign all our fists are clenched and they (the enemies) will be destroyed with these fists, God willing. We will continue chanting death to America and death to Israel with the same clenched fist.”

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writer Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

Iranian religious leaders and other mourners walk past the coffins of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family during a viewing ceremony ahead of the dayslong funeral ceremonies at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) CORRECTION : The religious leaders are Iranian, not foreigners

Iranian religious leaders and other mourners pay their respects before the coffins of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family during a viewing ceremony ahead of the dayslong funeral ceremonies at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

The coffins of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center on top, and members of his family are displayed ahead of the dayslong funeral ceremonies at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Revolutionary Guard members and clerics mourn on the esplanade of the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque as preparations are underway ahead of the dayslong funeral ceremonies for slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Foreign religious leaders and other mourners walk past the coffins of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family during a viewing ceremony ahead of the dayslong funeral ceremonies at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

The casket of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's granddaughter, Zahra Mohammadi Golpayegani, is displayed alongside the caskets of Khamenei and other members of his family during a viewing ceremony ahead of the dayslong funeral ceremonies at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Iran's Basij paramilitary forces set up a checkpoint at a square ahead of the funeral ceremonies of slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, shown at the billboard at rear, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

The coffin of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is carried into the Mosalla Grand Mosque ahead of his funeral ceremonies in Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

In this photo released by Iran's Supreme Leader's office, Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Gen. Ahmad Vahidi sits alongside Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei casket as it lies in a mourning hall adjacent to the Imam Khomeini Hussainiya within the Supreme Leader's compound before his funeral in Tehran, Iran, late Thursday, July 2, 2026. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

A portrait of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and an Iranian flag are displayed in the window of a book store ahead of Khamenei's funeral ceremonies, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

In this photo released by Iran's Supreme Leader's office, mourners react as they gather around the coffin of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as it lies in a mourning hall adjacent to the Imam Khomeini Hussainiya within the Supreme Leader's compound before his funeral in Tehran, Iran, late Thursday, July 2, 2026. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

In this photo released by Iran's Supreme Leader's office, mourners gather around the coffin of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as it lies in a mourning hall adjacent to the Imam Khomeini Hussainiya within the Supreme Leader's compound before his funeral in Tehran, Iran, late Thursday, July 2, 2026. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

In this photo released by Iran's Supreme Leader's office, mourners gather around the coffin of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as it lies in a mourning hall adjacent to the Imam Khomeini Hussainiya within the Supreme Leader's compound before his funeral in Tehran, Iran, late Thursday, July 2, 2026. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)