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Political crisis and protests in Ukraine as Zelenskyy defends sacking defence minister

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has defended his decision to dismiss the country’s popular defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, and confirmed reports that relations had broken down between the ministry and the country’s top army leadership. Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv with the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, Zelenskyy said there had been a “challenging dialogue” between Fedorov – widely seen as a reformist and moderniser – and the military’s commander in chief, Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi. “I would very much like to see unity. The sides have not found it. And the problem lies not only with the sides, but with me as well,” Zelenskyy said. “But things are as they are. And in such a situation, you have a choice: either one side or the other.” He has appointed the acting head of Ukraine’s security service, Yevhenii Khmara, as acting defence minister and asked parliament to approve him in the position. Zelenskyy’s decision to back Syrskyi has outraged civil society and dismayed Ukraine’s foreign partners. More than 1,000 protesters gathered outside the presidential office in Kyiv on Thursday, carrying placards in support of Fedorov. One read: “For what?”. Another said: “Is your head screwed on?” There were loud chants of “Syrskyi out”. It was only the second time since Vladimir Putin’s 2022 invasion that large numbers of people have taken to the streets in anti-government protests. A year ago, Zelenskyy’s decision – later reversed – to close two anti-corruption agencies provoked a similar backlash. The growing domestic political crisis overshadowed Starmer’s farewell visit to Kyiv, ahead of his departure on Monday from Downing Street. The two leaders laid wreaths at the Wall of Remembrance before holding one-on-one talks in the garden of the presidential palace, sitting together in a shady corner. At a joint press conference, Zelenskyy awarded Starmer the Order of Freedom, Ukraine’s highest foreign honour. Starmer, who appeared to be close to tears, gave Zelenskyy a framed Ukrainian flag that had hung above Downing Street in February 2022 as Russian tanks rolled towards Kyiv. Starmer said he would soon depart the political stage but “the support of the United Kingdom for this course will never change”. He added: “It is in our bones. The flags are flying in churches and town halls across the country, as they have throughout the duration of this conflict. Your fight is our fight.” The UK prime minister said Ukrainian drone strikes on long-range targets inside Russia had shifted the war’s momentum. Putin was “losing”, he said. He described the more optimistic mood in Ukraine over the last six or seven months as significant. “It’s down to hard work, guts, resolve and courage,” he said. Zelenskyy praised Starmer for leading the coalition of the willing, alongside France, and thanked ordinary Britons for their backing. Asked if the frequent turnover of British prime ministers was a problem for Ukraine, Zelenskyy said “strong relations” with the UK would continue. Without mentioning Andy Burnham by name, he said he hoped to meet Starmer’s successor “as soon as possible”. Starmer and Zelenskyy then embraced warmly, patting each other on the arm, and walked back into the neoclassical, turquoise-painted palace for an official lunch. Meanwhile, Fedorov addressed his own press conference, accusing Ukraine’s top brass of obstructing reforms and using Soviet-style methods. He said decisions on which military brigades to support – including with drones – were made on the basis of “loyalty” rather than data. “It’s impossible to develop the system on this basis,” he said. He said Ukraine’s general staff had opposed his plans to create centres of excellence and change the army’s organisational structure. Instead, it had blocked initiatives and engaged in “bureaucratic wrangling”. Fedorov said he had proposed replacing Syrskyi – a suggestion that appears to have led to his own dismissal on Wednesday. “This sort of culture needs to be eradicated, because otherwise we won’t be able to defeat an enemy whose system is plagued by the very same issues,” he said. “We have no other choice if we want to defeat Russia asymmetrically, with minimal losses.” Fedorov said he had turned down an offer from Zelenskyy to stay on as a government adviser. On Wednesday, Ukraine’s parliament accepted the resignation of the prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, after Zelenskyy said his government needed a reboot. Her replacement is likely to be Serhiy Koretskyi, the head of the energy company Naftogaz. Fedorov’s scathing comments suggest the political row over the president’s reshuffle is likely to grow. Fedorov paid tribute to Syrskyi for thwarting Russia’s plans to seize Kyiv. But he said the commander in chief refused to talk openly about disagreements. Instead, he “weaved intrigues” which “divide the country”. During Fedorov’s six months in office, Ukraine’s battlefield position dramatically improved. Kyiv has repeatedly pummelled Russian oil refineries, embarrassing the Kremlin and creating nationwide fuel shortages. It has also destroyed important land and sea routes, hitting tankers and ferries, as part of a strategy to isolate occupied Crimea. Demonstrators who had gathered outside Kyiv’s Ivan Franko theatre speculated that the charismatic and digitally savvy Fedorov, 35, was removed because he was seen as a future presidential rival. In 2024, Zelenskyy dismissed the popular head of the army, Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi, and exiled him to London as Ukraine’s ambassador. One protester, Andrii Dligach, said Fedorov stood for a new kind of politics based on openness, transparency and modernisation. He said: “Syrskyi is an old-fashioned general. Some of the people around him are allegedly corrupt and have their own drone projects. The problem is that Zelenskyy opposes anybody who shows political ambition.” Dligach added: “Only a few people can influence the president’s thinking. Most are against Fedorov. They prefer an old-fashioned management style, similar to the one in Russia, with a tsar.”

Iran reports fresh strikes near Qeshm Island and accuses US over ‘barbaric’ hospital attack – as it happened

We’re pausing our live coverage now, here is a summary of the day’s main developments: Iranian news agencies have reported that the United States has launched strikes around Iran’s Gulf island of Qeshm near the strait of Hormuz, as renewed hostilities flared between Washington and Tehran. Fars news agency reported an “American missile strike in the vicinity of Qeshm”, citing local authorities, while Tasnim news agency said one of its correspondents reported locations around Qeshm “were struck by projectiles from the American enemy”. Iran has accused the US of launching a “barbaric attack” near a children’s cancer hospital in Ahvaz south-west of the country. The Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said the hospital was forced to evacuate, causing “severe suffering and anxiety” for the children being treated there. The Kuwaiti army said it was responding to renewed drone attacks from Iran after facing strikes overnight. “Kuwaiti air defences are currently engaging hostile drone attacks following the Iranian aggression,” the army said in a statement. Yemen’s Houthi leader ⁠Abdul Malik al-Houthi said on Thursday ⁠that ⁠all Saudi oil and other vital facilities ⁠would be targets for the group’s ⁠missiles and drones if Riyadh ‌involved itself ‌in what he ‌described as “comprehensive aggression” against Yemen and moved toward escalation. The Houthis fired missiles at ‌Saudi Arabia after they accused the kingdom of bombing an airport under their control on Monday, ⁠breaking a four-year truce in the conflict between the two sides. AFP and Reuters have reported a drone struck a ship located off the port in Iraq’s southern province of Basra. Citing oil and security sources, the news agencies said the ship, which was “carrying American-branded cars”, had arrived from the UAE today and was hit near an oil terminal. Crude oil ⁠loading has been suspended at all Iraqi terminals ⁠as a result of the incident. The Gaza recovery plan being pursued by Donald Trump’s Board of Peace (BoP) has shrunk dramatically from an ambitious blueprint for the reconstruction of the whole territory to a small pilot project in the south of the strip. Even the envisaged pilot scheme – involving a temporary camp for a tiny fraction of Gaza’s 2 million displaced people, with a Palestinian administration, police and a small international security force – is not expected to take shape before the end of the year. Iraqi prime minister Ali al-Zaidi has ordered an inquiry into a foiled attempt to smuggle weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon via its border. Iraqi authorities will “coordinate” with Syria on the matter, the Iraqi government’s security media cell said in a statement, after its neighbour said it had seized a shipment that included missiles at the border. Oil prices are up by about 1% amid growing US-Iran tensions over the strait of Hormuz and other key shipping channels in the Gulf. Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, is up by 1% to $85.85 a barrel. The Lebanese foreign minister, Youssef Raggi, said Lebanon has made a decision to “end Hezbollah’s military presence” and that decisions on war and foreign policy are the “exclusive prerogative of the Lebanese state”. The Lebanese government is pushing to disarm Hezbollah, one of the most heavily armed militias in the Middle East, and it has become a central component of the US-brokered talks between Lebanon and Israel. Reuters has reported that Benjamin Netanyahu will not travel to the US next ⁠week because the ‌funeral ‌of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has been ‌postponed until the end of the month, the Israeli prime minister’s office said. Earlier Israeli reports suggested Netanyahu had been set to fly to Washington on Saturday to attend memorial events for Graham, who died on Saturday, and potentially meet Donald Trump. India’s government has ordered shipowners not to deploy Indian crew members on vessels that require passing through the strait of Hormuz as violence escalates in the Middle East. “No deployment of Indian seafarers on vessels undertaking voyages ⁠involving passage through the strait of Hormuz until further orders,” India’s directorate general ‌of shipping said ‌in an order issued last night. Iran’s army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia said Tehran did not want to confront its regional neighbours, despite an earlier statement by another military official threatening to “crush” infrastructure across the Middle East. “Iran has no conflict with the neighbouring and Islamic countries of the region and has always emphasised the development of cooperation and brotherly relations with the countries of the region,” he said, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency. Pakistan has called on the US and Iran to end the violence and resume negotiations as stipulated in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in June with Islamabad’s mediation. “While the implementation of the MoU is facing challenges, Pakistan will continue to encourage all sides to end the violence and resume technical level talks in accordance with the MoU,” Tahir Andrabi, spokesperson for the Pakistani foreign ministry, said at a press briefing today.

Tell us: have you been affected by the spread of wildfire smoke in the US and Canada?

The smoke from more than 100 active wildfires northern Ontario has spread to cities across the north-east US, including New York. Environment Canada issued health warnings on Wednesday after the sky over Toronto turned yellow with smoke and was ranked the worst in the world, according to IQAir. We would like to hear about the impact of the smoke spreading in the US and Canada. How have you been affected? Do you have any concerns? If you’re having trouble using the form click here. Read terms of service here and privacy policy here.

US intensifies attacks on Iran as Tehran hits back at Gulf states

The US has intensified its attacks on Iran, hitting targets near Tehran and striking a ship it accused of trying to break its blockade, while Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones at US allies in the region. Six consecutive days of back-and-forth attacks threaten to pull the region back into a total war and cast serious doubt about an interim deal reached last month meant to achieve a permanent peace. The attacks have been accompanied by escalating rhetoric from both sides, as the US enforced its naval blockade and Iran said it had shut the strait of Hormuz, which before the conflict handled about a fifth of global oil and gas exports. Iran asked its allies in Yemen, the Houthis, to be prepared to close the oil route through the Red Sea if the US targeted Iranian energy infrastructure, Reuters reported – a threat that, if followed through, could paralyse the global energy market. The Houthi leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, also threatened that all Saudi oil and other critical facilities could be targeted by the group if Riyadh intervened in Yemen. The threat came after Saudi struck Sanaa airport, leading to retaliatory missile strikes from the Houthis on Saudi Arabia. The US launched its latest wave of strikes on Iran early on Thursday, hitting areas around Tehran for the first time in the current round of fighting, as well as striking other provinces, Iranian state media reported. Iranian media reported US missiles also hit locations near the port city of Bandar Abbas, as well as Qeshm island where drones and missiles are stored, late on Thursday afternoon. The US also said it fired on a tanker sailing towards Kharg island, Iran’s biggest oil export terminal. US Central Command said a Hellfire missile was fired at the ship after it “ignored multiple warnings”. US attacks had killed more than 35 people and wounded more than 300 others in recent days, Iranian authorities said. Tehran accused the US of carrying out a “barbaric attack” after a cancer hospital in south-west Iran was evacuated because of strikes nearby. “This barbaric attack, reminiscent of Israel’s atrocities against healthcare facilities, caused severe suffering and anxiety upon the hospitalised children,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on X. Esmaeil Baghaei added that “211 patients undergoing chemotherapy” were evacuated. Iran responded on Thursday with missiles and drones targeting Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait, which host US bases. Iraq’s prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, also said there was an overnight drone attack on the city of Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan. The attack, which was intercepted, came as al-Zaidi pledged during a trip to the US to disarm non-state armed groups. Iraqi authorities also briefly suspended crude oil loading at all of its terminals on Thursday after a drone crashed into an oil tanker in Basra without causing damage, Reuters reported. Crude oil loading resumed later in the day. Iran warned that it could expand its attacks in the region in response to comments from Donald Trump, the US president, that he could strike power plants, bridges and a nuclear facility. “All the infrastructure in the region will be crushed under the steel blows of the powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said Col Ebrahim Zolfaghari, an Iranian military spokesperson. “Under no circumstances and in no way will we allow America, as a foreign and extra-regional country, to interfere in the strait. This is Iran’s inviolable red line.” Zolfaghari said the only way to reopen the strait was for the US to follow the 14-point Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed last month, as well as to abide by “Iranian regulations” for transiting ships. Much of the latest fighting has focused on the strait, as Iran and the US fight over the future of the critical waterway. The MoU signed last month said the strait should remain open for the 60-day period of the interim deal. However the two sides interpret the MoU differently, both presenting competing schemes for ships to navigate the strait. The strait was all but closed by Iran after the start of the war, sending global energy prices and inflation soaring. Trump is keen to have the strait reopened because higher energy prices could harm Republican candidates in autumn’s midterm elections. Fewer vessels went through the strait on Wednesday after the US blockade was reimposed and fighting continued, shipping data showed. Nine ships, mostly on the Iranian-provided route, not the US one, navigated the strait as opposed to 13 on Tuesday. India, one of the largest contributors of sailors to merchant vessels worldwide, told shipowners and recruitment companies not to send Indian sailors on ships heading for the strait. “There should be no deployment of Indian seafarers on vessels undertaking voyages involving passage through the strait of Hormuz until further orders,” India’s directorate general of maritime administration said in a statement on Wednesday. The price of oil has increased to about $85 a barrel – the highest price in a month, but still below the peak of $120 during the war. Analysts said that continued disruptions to shipping in the strait could see oil prices increase further, reaching as high as $100 a barrel. The US has threatened that it could open the strait by force, but experts have said that such an operation would need thousands of ground troops. Trump has continued to insist that Iran was ready to make a peace deal, though Iranian officials have said they will not bow to military pressure. “They don’t like what we’re doing, and they do want to settle. We’ll find out whether or not we settle with them, or we just finish it off,” Trump said on Wednesday during a speech at the US army’s war college. Trump’s statements conflicted with those of Iranian officials, with Iran’s top negotiator and speaker of parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, saying in a statement that “we are in an essential and existential war with America”. Ghalibaf said the MoU “only has meaning when its clauses are valid and being implemented,” adding that Iran would not adhere to the interim deal if it was not “deriving any benefit.” Mediators have tried to calm the escalating tensions with little success. Pakistan’s foreign minister said on Thursday that the country was trying to bring Washington and Tehran back to the table, but that it was becoming increasingly difficult. “Whenever the parties exhaust the logic of escalation, the formula for peace is there,” the foreign ministry spokesperson, Tahir Andrabi, said at a news conference.

Former boss of Italian motorways sentenced to 12 years over Genoa bridge tragedy

Thirty-two people, including the former chief executive of Italy’s motorway operator, have been convicted over the 2018 collapse of a Genoa bridge in which 43 people died. In a hushed courtroom on Thursday in the north-western Italian city, Giovanni Castellucci, a former boss of Autostrade per l’Italia, was sentenced to 12 years in prison, the highest in the case. He had been on trial alongside 56 others over the collapse of the Morandi Bridge, in which a 50-metre section of the bridge fell away, sending vehicles plunging on to warehouses and a riverbed beneath the flyover during a summer storm. It was one of the worst tragedies in modern Italian history. Castellucci was convicted of complicity in multiple counts of manslaughter through negligence. His lawyers said he would appeal, saying that as CEO their client had relied on Italy’s leading engineers. They called the verdict “a defeat for the truth”. There was silence as the judge read out the verdicts in a courtroom packed with about 400 relatives of the victims, lawyers, journalists and members of the public. Some relatives embraced and wept. Others said they needed time to come to terms with what the court had decided. “We need to better understand the ruling; there are a large number of defendants involved,” Egle Possetti, a spokesperson for the victims, who lost her sister, brother-in-law and her sister’s two children in the tragedy, told Reuters. All of the defendants had denied wrongdoing. In all, 32 people were convicted and handed sentences ranging from one year and 11 months to 12 years. Others were either found not guilty, or lesser charges had expired under the statute of limitations. The trial became both a search for accountability over one of Italy’s worst infrastructure disasters and a test of the country’s notoriously slow justice system. The collapse of the 51-year-old bridge stunned Italy and exposed deep concerns over the safety of the country’s ageing infrastructure. Prosecutors argued that years of neglected maintenance, ignored warning signs and repeated delays to safety works contributed to the collapse, alleging that essential repairs were postponed while the motorway operator continued to generate and distribute profits. The defence rejected those claims, arguing that the disaster was caused by a fatal flaw in the bridge’s original design, specifically the failure of stay cable No 9, and that no maintenance programme could have prevented the collapse. In a statement issued after the verdicts, Castelluci’s lawyers said: “The suffering caused by the Genoa tragedy is immense and deserves respect. But the gravity of the event requires justice to remain based on individual responsibility, not the search for a scapegoat.” The disaster also triggered a political battle over control of Italy’s motorway network, ending with the Benetton family relinquishing its controlling stake in Autostrade per l’Italia. The remains of the Morandi Bridge were demolished and replaced by the Genoa San Giorgio Bridge, designed by the Genoa-born architect Renzo Piano, who donated the project to his home town. The new bridge, which opened in August 2020, features sail-shaped elements inspired by the city’s maritime heritage.

Mafia law gives Italian families right to break free from life of crime

Children and young adults raised in mafia families will be given a chance to break away from organised crime under new legislation in Italy that aims to stop the intergenerational recruitment of gangsters. In an unprecedented effort to sever the family chain, the Italian state will offer children aged under 25 and other close relatives of mafia bosses a chance to start over: a new home in another city, a new school and, if necessary, a new identity. On Wednesday, the “free to choose” bill won final approval in the senate. “Today, parliament is translating into law a dream that for years seemed impossible,” said Chiara Colosimo, the president of the parliamentary anti-mafia commission. About 400 children born into mafia families are expected to enter the programme each year, according to Colosimo. In many Italian mafia clans, power is passed from one generation to the next. While hereditary succession is not a fixed rule in Sicily’s Cosa Nostra or in the Neapolitan Camorra, it is deeply embedded in the culture of the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta, one of the world’s most powerful criminal organisations, where the son of a boss is often expected to inherit his father’s position as the head of the clan. These blood ties have long made the ’Ndrangheta exceptionally difficult to penetrate and largely resistant to the system of pentiti – former mafia members who choose to cooperate with the authorities. For many, confessing the crimes of their clan would mean betraying not only fellow gangsters, but their own fathers, grandfathers and uncles. Despite sweeping arrests and a succession of maxi trials involving hundreds of defendants, the organisation has proved remarkably resilient. As fathers and grandfathers serve life sentences, often in high-security prisons, sons and other younger relatives are increasingly taking their place, often while still in their teens. After becoming president of the youth court in Reggio Calabria in 2011, Roberto Di Bella launched an unprecedented probation scheme allowing authorities to remove children from the most dangerous ’Ndrangheta families and relocate them until they turned 18. Supported by educators, social workers and psychologists, they were helped to complete their education and build a life away from organised crime. Parents who continued to draw their children into criminal activity risked losing parental rights. Di Bella called the programme Liberi di Scegliere – meaning free to choose. The initiative provoked a backlash. Di Bella was accused of tearing families apart and denounced by politicians, commentators and parts of the church, who argued that removing children from their parents, regardless of the circumstances, amounted to an assault on the family. One jailed mafia boss sent the judge a thinly veiled threat, reminding him that everyone had children. Yet the programme received support from unexpected quarters. Di Bella said mothers from ’Ndrangheta families, including the wives of powerful bosses, had begun secretly asking him to remove their sons from Calabria, telling him they feared they would otherwise end up in prison or dead. “This is an enormously important law with extraordinary potential because it can genuinely transform the lives of hundreds of women and children,” Di Bella told the Guardian. “It will allow women to rebuild their lives, train for a profession and, if they choose, even change their surname. It is also a model that could be applied beyond Italy, including internationally, where criminal organisations such as drug cartels exert the same influence over women and children.” The law prioritises keeping mothers and children together, provided the mother agrees to cut ties with the mafia. Families are relocated to a protected location outside their home region. If the mother remains involved with the clan, children are placed with vetted foster families or, where necessary, in protected care homes, where they receive education and psychological support. Di Bella watched the vote from the Senate chamber and said he was deeply moved by its approval. In the hours that followed, he received dozens of messages from people whose families had taken part in the rehabilitation programme that inspired the law. One message, shared with the Guardian and sent by the former wife of a mafia member, read: “This is a historic day for so many women, children and young people, who from today can look to the future with a little more hope. I will never forget that when it all began, you were the first to reach out your hand and believe in me and my children … This law will change so many lives, just as you helped change ours.” “It is the right law,” said Salvatore Vella, the chief prosecutor in Gela, Sicily, one of the island’s historic criminal strongholds. “It recognises that defeating the mafia is not just about policing, but also about culture and the social environment.”

Outrage at sacking of Ukraine’s defence minister overshadows Starmer’s final visit as PM – as it happened

We will be closing the blog for today, so here is your summary of the day so far: Thousands of people joined protests in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities over president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s decision to sack the country’s popular defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov (9:59, 11:56, 13:29). The growing domestic political crisis overshadowed Keir Starmer’s farewell visit to Kyiv (13:41), with both leaders stressing the strength of links between the UK and Ukraine (14:10, 14:33), and Zelenskyy saying he hoped to continue that relationship with the incoming prime minister, Andy Burnham (14:25). Separately, Sergii Koretskyi has been confirmed by the Ukrainian parliament as the country’s new prime minister (11:24). In other news, The Ukrainian businessman who survived an assassination attempt in Monaco has accused Ukraine’s military intelligence agency of organising the attack (15:59). The EU has failed to agree the latest round of sanctions against the Kremlin, with an interim decision to maintain the current price cap on Russian oil of $44.1o a barrel until 23 July pending another attempt at finalising the measures (10:25). The EU’s top court has ruled that a controversial Spanish law that offered an amnesty to those who planned and participated in the failed and illegal push for Catalan independence does not violate the bloc’s rules (12:25). Tourists in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, are staying in illegal accommodation listed on Airbnb and Booking.com in buildings considered so seismically vulnerable they could collapse in the event of a major earthquake, according to exclusive data shared with the Guardian (16:23). If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com. I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.

Target of Monaco bomb blames attack on Ukrainian spy agency

The Ukrainian businessman who survived an assassination attempt in Monaco has accused Ukraine’s military intelligence agency of organising the attack. In his first public statement since the bombing that shook the wealthy principality, Vadym Iermolaiev alleged that serving and former officers of the GUR military intelligence agency were behind the attempted killing, which left him injured but his partner critically wounded. “Based on the investigative evidence available to us, we have no doubt that serving officers of the main intelligence directorate of the ministry of defence of Ukraine, commonly known as the GUR, were directly involved in this attempted assassination,” Iermolaiev said in a statement published by his lawyers. French investigators have identified the suspected bomber as Anastasiia Berezovska, accusing the Ukrainian national of planting an explosive device in a public place with criminal intent. The bomb detonated as Iermolaiev emerged from a building with his partner and their 13-year-old son. Days after the attack, Berezovska was found dead near Kyiv. Ukrainian authorities have arrested two suspects over her killing: Vladyslav Reut, an officer with the GUR, and Oleksandr Zhykovych, a former law enforcement officer. Appearing in a Kyiv court last Thursday, Reut claimed Zhykovych was responsible for Berezovska’s murder. According to prosecutors, the pair forced her at gunpoint into a car before taking her to a forest near the village of Yuriv, about 40 miles (60km) west of the capital, where she was killed. Ukrainian prosecutors have sought to portray the case as the actions of a rogue intelligence officer, alleging that Reut concealed his contacts with Berezovska and acted without the knowledge or authorisation of the agency’s leadership. Iermolaiev rejected that account, saying in his statement: “According to the evidence currently available, the conspiracy extended beyond the direct perpetrators and organisers to include serving GUR officers connected to them, including individuals close to the agency’s current and former leadership.” Iermolaiev said the explosion “was powerful enough to tear apart steel railings and destroy the stone steps outside our home. This was not a warning. It was an attempt to kill not only me, but my family as well.” He said his partner, Anna, had sustained “catastrophic and irreversible injuries”, while their son was left with burns, fractures and other serious injuries. “I remain in intensive care and am only now beginning the long process of recovery,” he added. The case is an embarrassment for Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and risks straining relations with European partners if the allegations of GUR involvement and direct knowledge gain further credibility. The incident comes at a politically sensitive moment for the Ukrainian president, who is facing scrutiny over his decision to dismiss his widely respected defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov. The motive behind the attempted killing remains unclear. In 2023, Ukraine imposed sanctions on Iermolaiev, one of the country’s richest businessmen with a fortune estimated by Forbes at $220m (£164m). Kyiv accused him of continuing to trade alcohol in Russian-occupied Crimea and of paying millions of dollars in taxes to the Russian treasury. Ukraine has carried out numerous lethal operations involving explosive devices against senior Russian military officers and Kremlin-backed Ukrainian officials inside Russia, but there is no precedent for such an attack on European territory. Iermolaiev was not known for espousing pro-Russian views or publicly aligning himself with the Kremlin. Another theory is that the bombing was linked to organised crime, with members of Ukraine’s military intelligence recruited to carry out a contract killing. Iermolaiev’s adult son, Artur, has been accused by Ukrainian authorities of creating a criminal organisation involved in large-scale telephone fraud in his father’s home city of Dnipro. Such phone scam networks have long been associated with organised crime groups, although there is no evidence publicly linking those allegations to the Monaco bombing.