The main suspect of Monaco parcel bombing is a Ukrainian woman living in Germany

The main suspect in a Monaco bomb attack this week that seriously injured a Ukraine-born business tycoon and two of his family members is a Ukrainian woman living in Germany who disguised herself as a man, authorities have said.

Interpol, the international police organisation, on Friday issued a red notice for Anastasiia Berezovska, aged 39, describing her as German-speaking with dark hair and a tattoo, possibly of a snake, on her right arm from the shoulder to the elbow.

The notice – a request to law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and arrest a suspect – said Berezovska was wanted in Monaco for attempted murder, placing an explosive device in a public place with criminal intent and criminal conspiracy.

German police ​said on Friday they had searched the rented flat and car of a 39-year-old Ukrainian woman. “Evidence was secured which will be handed over to Monaco authorities,” they said, adding: “The wanted woman is currently on the run.”

Monaco’s deputy prosecutor, Morgan Raymond, said the suspect had been living in Germany and that, given the complexity of the explosive device and the sophisticated nature of the attack, investigators considered it probable she had not acted ‌alone.

Two ​people were arrested ​in Monaco earlier this week but released because no evidence had been found to link them to the attack, he added.

Raymond said the attacker was suspected of leaving a package in the entrance hall of a small apartment building between the Boulevard d’Italie and the Rue Révérend Père Louis Frolla in Monaco, metres from the French border, on Monday evening.

Shortly afterwards, at about 9pm local time, an explosive device went off as three residents – a couple and a 13-year-old child – were entering the building.

The victims’ identities have not been confirmed but police and judicial sources have said they were Vadym Iermolaiev, 58, a wealthy businessman originally from Ukraine and now a Cypriot national, his partner and his son.

The child was admitted in non-critical emergency condition to the Lenval children’s hospital in Nice, while the two adults, whose injuries were considered severe enough to place their lives in danger, were taken to Nice university hospital.

Hospital authorities said the man is no longer in a life-or-death situation, but the woman’s condition has not yet stabilised and remains critical. French media have reported that surgeons amputated both her legs.

Raymond said the attacker had set off the bomb with a remote control when the three victims arrived in the entrance hall, then crossed on foot into France and fled in a car rented in Germany, returning there via several European countries, including Italy.

He said the suspect had initially been identified as a heavily built man, wearing a dark long-sleeved top, light-coloured shorts and a black bucket hat, but CCTV footage and witness testimony led investigators to focus on a woman disguised as a man.