A Ukrainian military intelligence officer who had confessed to killing a woman suspected of a bomb attack in Monaco has retracted his account in a Kyiv court, now claiming he did not fire the fatal shots. Vladyslav Reut, a decorated GUR agent who days earlier led investigators to Anastasiia Berezovska's woodland grave, told a custody hearing on Thursday that he "categorically denied" the murder and blamed his co-defendant, former SBU officer Vitalii Zhykovych. The case is drawing significant attention because it implicates serving and former members of Ukraine's intelligence services, and is described as an uncomfortable one for the authorities in Kyiv.

Berezovska, 39, was suspected of trying to assassinate sanctioned businessman Vadym Yermolayev and his family in Monaco, and had travelled to Ukraine by bus from Poland two days after the blast. Investigators tracked the two suspects through her phone records and financial transfers, after which Reut initially confessed. In his revised version, Reut says Zhykovych produced a pistol, ordered him to shoot and, when he refused, killed her himself with four shots before they buried her; he claims he confessed under threats to his relatives. Zhykovych's lawyer rejected the account, the motive remains unclear, and both men were denied bail and remanded in custody as the investigation continues.