MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. There is reason to believe that the Ukrainian government was involved in the attempted murder of Ukrainian-born businessman Vadim Yermolayev, said Verkhovna Rada deputy Anna Skorokhod.

According to her, Yermolayev was giving testimony to certain Western structures against Ukrainian politicians.

"The fact that Yermolayev is testifying was known, and he is not testifying exactly in the European Union. There is an interesting story there about who he is testifying to. We have different Western partners, and they most often like to ‘make an agreement’ with someone, and then, under this agreement, supposedly let that person off scot-free while having damning testimony against others," she said in an interview with Ukrainian journalist Vitaly Diky.

According to the deputy, unnamed Western structures affiliated with the European Union may have made some kind of deal with Yermolayev, prompting the Ukrainian government to try to take him out.

"This is why it is quite possible that, having learned about this, our high-ranking officials decided that if there is no person, there is no problem. Even despite the unspoken international rules that exist in relation to Monaco," she added.

On June 29, an explosion occurred in the entrance of an apartment building in Monaco. Three victims were seriously injured. BFMTV said one of the wounded was Yermolayev, a Cypriot citizen whom the media included in the list of the wealthiest Ukrainian businessmen.

Yermolayev renounced his Ukrainian citizenship in 2019.

In 2023, Kiev imposed sanctions against him. According to the Nice-Matin newspaper, the attacker was waiting for the victim at the entrance to an apartment building on Reverin Pere Louis Frolla Street for almost an hour.

The Monaco Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation into the incident in connection with an "attempted murder." Initially, the authorities of the principality called the incident a terrorist attack, but later abandoned this wording. According to Le Figaro, citing sources, investigators are inclined to believe that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) is behind this crime. At the same time, the publication said it was "more of a warning than a deliberate assassination attempt."