SBU conducts searches at GUR officer's home, reportedly over the

Searches at an intelligence officer's home

Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) is conducting searches at the home of an officer of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the country's Defense Ministry, reportedly as part of the Monacocase. Lawyer Masi Nayem reported what was happening on his Facebook page, Gazeta.Ru writes. According to the human rights advocate, on the morning of November 6 Ukrainian law enforcement officers broke down the door and knocked the serviceman to the ground. Nayem arrived at the scene as the GUR officer's lawyer, but did not disclose his client's name.

Link to the Monaco assassination attempt case

There has been no official confirmation of the searches so far. Ukrainian media suggest the case concerns the investigation into the assassination attempt on Ukrainian businessman Vadim Ermolaev in Monaco. On June 29, an explosion occurred in the principality, injuring the businessman himself, his son, and his female companion. Ukrainian citizen Anastasia Berezovskaya was named the main suspect in the bombing and placed on an international wanted list.

The suspect's fate and the confession

On July 6, Berezovskaya's body was found near Kyiv with gunshot wounds. A serving officer of Ukrainian military intelligence confessed to the crime and was detained together with a former law enforcement officer. According to Ukrainian media, this circumstance may explain the SBU's interest in the GUR officer, although sources do not confirm any direct link between the November 6 searches and that case. Earlier, Ermolaev himself revealed what explosives were used in the attempt on his life.