Vitaly Zhikovych, one of the two defendants in the murder of the woman suspected of planting the explosive device in Monaco, claims that the attack was suggested by an officer of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine. He made his statements to the BBC from a prison in Kiev through his lawyer.
Zhikovych points to Vladislav Reut, a current Ukrainian military intelligence officer, as the initiator of the operation. According to the defendant, Reut told him that the operation had been approved by his superiors in the GUR and that the target was the Ukrainian businessman who was bombed in Monaco on June 29.
“This was revenge for financing the annexation of Crimea“, claims Zhikovich, without presenting public evidence for this version. The businessman, who was seriously injured in the explosion along with his 13-year-old son, has repeatedly denied having any active business interests related to Russia. His partner was seriously injured in the attack.
The two defendants shift blame
The woman captured on security cameras just before the explosion is Anastasia Berezovskaya. She left Germany after the attack and returned to Ukraine, but was found dead a week later in a wooded area west of Kiev. According to the investigation, she was shot in the head.
Zhikovich and Reut were arrested for her murder. Reut initially admitted to investigators that he was involved and took officers to the place where the body was buried. Later, in court, he retracted his testimony and blamed Zhikovich.
Zhikovich denies sending Berezovskaya to commit murder and rejects the claim that he shot her. According to his version, Reut requested that she be used in the attack, provided the explosives and began communicating directly with her.
A conflicting version about the guarantor
At a court hearing in Kiev, Zhikovich stated that Reut told him that the attack was not actually officially authorized. "Someone had ordered this target from the civilian side," he says, without naming a person or organization. The judge interrupts him, as the hearing is open to the public.
His account thus contains two different versions: that the operation was approved by senior GUR officials and that the order came from a civilian. Zhikovic also claims that Reut initially mentioned two targets but refused to name the second.
The Main Intelligence Directorate says it is committed to fully clarifying the case and will provide the necessary support to law enforcement agencies. The Ukrainian Security Service describes Zhikovic as a former law enforcement officer.
Investigations in Monaco and Ukraine are ongoing. No guilt has been definitively established in the case, and the allegations of the accused are yet to be verified within the framework of the legal proceedings.
Sources: bbc.com, theguardian.com