// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
Suspect linked to Monaco bomb attack on millionaire breaks silence to BBC
Vitalii Zhykovych appeared in open court during the summer and has spoken to the BBC from prison
A former Ukrainian security services officer linked to a bomb attack in Monaco in June that targeted a multi-millionaire says he believed it was ordered by senior members of HUR, Ukraine's military intelligence agency.
In an exclusive interview with the BBC from prison in Kyiv, facilitated by his lawyer, Vitalii Zhykovych has given his own account of the attempted assassination for the first time.
Ukrainian-born businessman Vadym Yermolayev and his 13-year-old son were badly hurt in the blast and his partner suffered catastrophic injuries. Yermolayev later described their survival as "nothing short of a miracle".
Zhykovych describes himself as a "freelancer" for Ukraine's SBU security service and says Anastasia Berezovska, the woman caught on camera planting the bomb in Monaco, was his "agent".
A week after the bombing, Berezovska's body was discovered in the woods west of Kyiv with gunshot wounds to the head.
But Zhykovych insists he did not send her to kill, and nor did he kill her.
He was arrested and accused of her murder together with an active-duty intelligence officer from HUR called Vladyslav Reut.
Reut initially confessed to investigators, and led them to the shallow grave. But days later in court, he changed his testimony to blame Zhykovych.
Ukrainian agent accused of murdering Monaco bomb suspect changes story