New details are emerging that upend the initial reports surrounding the bombing attack targeting Ukrainian billionaire Vadim Germolaev in Monaco. The woman who suffered traumatic amputation in the explosion was not his wife, as originally reported, but his mistress.
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Monaco police are investigating the incident as attempted murder, while 46-year-old Anna Nasobina remains in critical condition after losing both legs in the blast. Germolaev himself remains seriously injured, and the couple’s 13-year-old son was also wounded in the attack. The information was confirmed by Ukrainian political blogger Anatoliy Shariy, who stated that the woman accompanying the businessman was Anna Nasobina — not his wife.
Nasobina has been in a long-term relationship with Germolaev for several years, and some reports suggest the two have entered into a civil partnership. However, the businessman remains officially married to Anna Germolaeva.
Monaco: Who is Anna Nasobina?
According to the Daily Mail, the 46-year-old was born in Dnipro, Ukraine. She studied Law at Dnipropetrovsk National University and later attended an International Management Institute. In recent years she has been based in London, and since 2023 has served as a director of British investment firm Wycombe Square Investments LLP, now using the spelling “Hanna” as her first name. She is also the daughter of the former First Deputy Prosecutor General of the Dnipropetrovsk region.
The wife denies she was at the scene
Germolaev’s wife, Anna Germolaeva — with whom he has four children — broke her silence, denying that she was present at the site of the explosion. “We are in a state of profound shock and are cooperating fully with the investigative and prosecutorial authorities,” she told Ukrainian media, clarifying that she was not injured. The explosion occurred at the entrance of a luxury residential complex in Monaco, when a device concealed inside a backpack was detonated.
Security camera footage captured a man leaving the backpack at the building’s entrance before walking away on foot just minutes before the blast. Prosecutor Stéphane Thibaud stated that the motive for the attack remains unknown at this stage. However, according to various reports, investigators are exploring a possible connection to a telephone fraud scheme involving illegal call centers. Sources cited by The Guardian believe this was “a very personal matter” rather than the work of professional hitmen, noting that Monaco operates one of the most extensive CCTV surveillance networks in the world.
Under sanctions in Ukraine
Germolaev, who now resides in Monaco, is currently subject to Ukrainian sanctions after choosing to continue his alcoholic beverages business operations in Crimea — a region under Russian occupation. While early speculation pointed to possible involvement by Ukrainian intelligence services, sources cited by The Guardian dismiss that scenario. “He’s an opportunist, not an open enemy,” one source noted, while another described him as someone “without ideology and without political views,” adding that he “could not, in practical terms, be considered a Russian asset.”
A person who knows him personally called him “a pure businessman,” adding that “he is more pleasant than 95% of people at his level — smiling, sociable, with endless jokes and a unique way of speaking.”
