Monaco explosion: Russian attack or settling of scores among Ukrainian oligarchs?

The backpack bomb at the Fondation Cuomo: a shrapnel warning

An explosion rocked the Reverend-Père-Louis-Frolla district of Monaco when a device placed at the entrance of the Fondation Cuomo went off, injuring three members of a Ukrainian family. The authorities confirmed it was a terrorist attack, but who carried it out remains shrouded in doubt: was it a Russian attack, or something murkier? The backpack contained nails and shrapnel, designed to cause maximum damage. The two parents, one of them identified as an oligarch, are in critical condition; the child is stable.

The victims' profile: oligarchs in the tax haven

The Ukrainian family was nowhere near the front line. Monaco, a tax haven and refuge for fortunes, is where the wealthy shield themselves from the war. But the war found them. The target was the Fondation Cuomo, a charity which, according to its website, "educates, trains and empowers". A strange target for an attack, unless the foundation was a front for something else. Commentators suggest the father was an oligarch involved in business dealings with occupied territories, which opens the door to a settling of scores.

Corruption and expatriates: the business of war

Meanwhile, in Spain, NABU (Ukraine's anti-corruption bureau) detained a Ukrainian MP from Zelensky's party for taking kickbacks on the purchase of medical supplies. A scandal that reflects how the war generates its own parallel economy. It is claimed that Kyiv's top brass keep 20-25% of defence contracts, and that "expatriate" oligarchs are pressured to contribute. The Monaco explosion could be a message to those who resist "paying up".

Factional struggle or false flag?

The hypotheses are varied. Some see a Russian operation to eliminate a financier of the regime; others, an internal Ukrainian purge for disobedience. The curious thing is that nobody expects a claim of responsibility: it would look bad for both Russians and Ukrainians. The shrapnel and the location, however, are reminiscent of other attacks from the East. The question that remains is whether the war is spilling over into tax havens, and whether the elites who thought they were safe are starting to pay the price.

The Monaco explosion is a warning: the war has long arms, and the oligarchs hiding on the Côte d'Azur are no longer safe. As someone once said, "those who get rich off wars should be expropriated and put on trial". But that doesn't pay for the shrapnel.