It's either her or us—the words that may have sealed a woman's fate
In a Kyiv courtroom, a decorated Ukrainian military intelligence officer reversed a murder confession he had made only days prior, redirecting blame onto his alleged accomplice in the killing of a woman suspected of orchestrating a bombing in Monaco. The case draws together threads of state power, criminal violence, and geopolitical intrigue — two men from Ukraine's security services stand accused of murdering a suspect before she could speak, while the question of who ordered what, and why, remains deliberately unanswered. It is the kind of story in which the official record and the human truth seem to be moving in opposite directions.
- A GUR officer who led investigators to a buried body in the woods west of Kyiv now insists he never pulled the trigger — his confession, he says, was extracted through threats against his family.
- The two accused men share security service backgrounds, and their alleged coordination in silencing a bombing suspect raises urgent questions about whether this was a sanctioned operation or a criminal one.
- The woman they are accused of killing, Anastasiia Berezovska, had crossed into Ukraine just two days after the Monaco blast — she was tracked, found, and buried before the public even knew her name.
- Prosecutors confirm a motive has been partially disclosed by one suspect but are withholding it, leaving open theories that stretch from Russian infiltration of Ukrainian intelligence to organized crime.
- President Zelensky has promised further disclosures, but for now the courtroom offers only masked faces, cuffed hands, and competing stories — the deeper truth still buried alongside the victim.
A Ukrainian military intelligence officer appeared in a Kyiv courtroom on Thursday, his face hidden behind an oversized mask, and announced that his earlier confession was a lie. Vladyslav Reut, 34, a decorated GUR agent, had days before admitted to shooting Anastasiia Berezovska — a woman suspected of planting a bomb targeting Ukrainian businessman Vadym Yermolayev in Monaco — and had even guided investigators to her grave in the woods west of the capital. Now he blamed his co-defendant entirely.
Berezovska had entered Ukraine by bus from Poland just two days after the Monaco blast, not yet publicly named as a suspect. Investigators traced her through phone records to two men: Reut and Vitalii Zhykovych, 50, a former SBU officer. Both had made financial transfers to her accounts. Reut's initial confession moved quickly — but it did not hold.
In his revised account, Reut claims Zhykovych produced a modified pistol during the drive toward a forest village, reassured him it was merely a precaution, and then — once they reached the woods near Yuriv — ordered him to shoot with the words: "It's either her or us." Zhykovych fired four shots himself, Reut now says. The two men buried the body and threw the gun into a lake. As for why he confessed to a killing he claims not to have committed, Reut offered a stark explanation: Zhykovych had threatened his relatives.
Zhykovych's lawyer dismissed the account entirely, describing his client as a patriot who had fought in eastern Ukraine and defended Kyiv after the 2022 invasion — not a man capable of commanding a serving intelligence officer to commit murder. Both defendants remain in custody, charged with premeditated murder.
The motive behind the Monaco bombing itself stays opaque. Yermolayev, who made his fortune in cognac and real estate, had renounced his Ukrainian citizenship and continued doing business in Russian-occupied Crimea, earning him Kyiv's sanctions. Why Berezovska would have targeted him — and who, if anyone, directed her — is unknown. The prosecutor acknowledged that one suspect has offered information about a possible motive but refused to disclose it. All theories remain on the table, from Russian recruitment of Ukrainian intelligence officers to organized crime. President Zelensky has promised further reports, but for now the case remains a portrait of deliberate opacity — two security men in a glass cage, their faces covered, and the full truth still unspoken.
A Ukrainian military intelligence officer walked into a Kyiv courtroom on Thursday with his hands cuffed, his face hidden behind an oversized mask, and announced that he had lied. Days earlier, Vladyslav Reut had confessed to shooting Anastasiia Berezovska, a woman suspected of planting a bomb meant for a wealthy businessman in Monaco. He had even led investigators to her grave in the woods west of the capital, where her body lay buried beneath branches. Now, in front of the judge and cameras, the 34-year-old GUR officer—an active, decorated member of Ukraine's military intelligence agency—said he did not pull the trigger at all. He blamed his alleged accomplice instead.
The case has become a tangle of contradictions that sits uncomfortably at the intersection of Ukrainian state power and criminal violence. Berezovska had arrived in Ukraine just two days after the Monaco blast, crossing by bus from Poland. She was not yet publicly identified as a suspect when she entered the country. But investigators moved quickly. Using her phone records, they zeroed in on two men: Reut, 34, and Vitalii Zhykovych, 50, a former officer of Ukraine's SBU security service. The two had made cash and cryptocurrency transfers to her accounts. Within days, Reut confessed and took police to the burial site.
But the confession unraveled in court. Reut now claims he was threatened. He says Zhykovych produced a modified Makarov pistol from his rucksack as the three drove toward a forest village. When Reut objected, Zhykovych allegedly said it was merely a precaution in case Berezovska panicked. Once they reached the woods near Yuriv, Reut says Zhykovych ordered him to shoot, saying the words: "It's either her or us." Zhykovych then fired four shots himself, Reut claims, before the two men buried the body and threw the gun into a nearby lake. When asked why he would confess to a murder he did not commit, Reut offered a chilling answer: Zhykovych had threatened his relatives. "If anything happens to me, your relatives are in danger," he claims his co-defendant said.
Zhykovych's lawyer, Anatoliy Ivanov, rejected the entire narrative. He described his client as a low-level former security officer and a patriot who had fought in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and defended Kyiv after Russia's 2022 invasion. The idea that such a man could have ordered a serving GUR officer to commit murder, Ivanov argued, was absurd. "He does not want to be imprisoned. I understand," the lawyer said of Reut's recantation, but insisted his own client "did not kill." Both men have been charged with premeditated murder and remanded in custody. The prosecutor maintains they acted jointly and in a coordinated fashion.
The motive for the Monaco bombing itself remains murky. Vadym Yermolayev, the businessman targeted in that attack, made his fortune in cognac and real estate before renouncing his Ukrainian citizenship years ago. Kyiv later sanctioned him for continuing to do business in Crimea after Russia seized it. Why Berezovska would have attempted to kill him—or who might have sent her—is unclear. The prosecutor acknowledged that one suspect has revealed information about a possible motive but refused to disclose it, saying it would compromise the investigation. "All versions are being considered," prosecutor Dmytro Tkachuk told the BBC, leaving the door open to theories ranging from Russian recruitment of Ukrainian intelligence officers to organized crime to simple corruption.
President Volodymyr Zelensky promised additional reports in the coming days. For now, the case presents a portrait of opacity: two men from Ukraine's security apparatus, one of them still active, sitting in a glass courtroom cage with their faces covered, their hands cuffed, while the truth of what happened in those woods remains locked away. The public knows only that a woman is dead, buried by men who may or may not be telling the truth about who pulled the trigger, and that the state authorities investigating the case are keeping their most crucial findings to themselves.
Citas Notables
I fought enemy combatants while defending my country. I would never intentionally murder an innocent civilian woman.— Vladyslav Reut, in court recantation
If anything happens to me, your relatives are in danger.— Alleged threat from Vitalii Zhykovych to Reut, according to Reut's account
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why would an active military intelligence officer confess to a murder he claims he didn't commit?
That's the question that makes this case so unsettling. Reut says Zhykovych threatened his family. When someone tells you your relatives are in danger if anything happens to them, the calculus changes. A false confession becomes a survival strategy.
But he led police to the body. He showed them exactly where it was buried.
Yes. Which either means he was there and knows where it is, or he was coerced into cooperating so thoroughly that he became complicit in his own false testimony. The prosecutor believes they acted together. Reut's lawyer would argue he was forced to participate under duress.
What about Zhykovych? Is his denial credible?
His lawyer makes a structural argument: a low-level former security officer couldn't order around an active GUR officer. But that assumes hierarchy is the only form of leverage. A gun in your hand and a threat against someone's family can work just as well.
The Monaco bombing—who actually wanted this businessman dead?
That's what the prosecutor won't say. He told the BBC that one of the suspects revealed something about motive, but disclosing it would hurt the investigation. So we're left guessing: Russian intelligence recruiting Ukrainian officers? Organized crime? A business dispute? The silence itself is telling.
What does Zelensky's promise of "additional reports" suggest?
It suggests the government knows more than it's saying and wants to control the narrative. When a decorated military intelligence officer is accused of murder, and the case involves potential state actors, the political stakes become very high. The reports may be about damage control as much as truth.