War against Ukraine
Eavesdropping bug found on Ukrainian commander-in-chief
The Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Valeryi Zalushnyj. Here in conversation with US Defense Secretary Blinken. photo
© -/Ukrainian Presidency/dpa
A listening device was found in the new office of Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Zalushny. No damage is said to have occurred. The secret service is alarmed.
Because of possible wiretapping of Commander-in-Chief The Ukrainian secret service SBU has started an investigation into Valeriy Zalushny. The listening device was found in a “room that he (Salushnyj) could have used for work in the future,” the authority said on Monday night.
“According to preliminary findings,” the device was not in operation; no recordings were found. Several Ukrainian media outlets had previously reported that bedbugs had been found directly in the new offices of Saluzhnyj and his personal aide.
Saluzhnyj: should have used these rooms today
Zalushnyj himself confirmed to the news portal RBK-Ukraina that the bug had been found during a standard check. “I’ll put it to you this way: These are the rooms I should have used today,” the general said. He works in constantly changing locations. At the same time, Saluschnyj said that listening devices were not only found on him. He did not want to comment on a possible initiator, but ruled out the possibility that it could have been members of the General Staff.
Ukraine has been defending itself against the Russian war of aggression for almost 22 months with the help of Western allies. There has long been speculation about conflicts between the army commander and President Volodymyr Zelensky. To Zelensky’s annoyance, Saluzhny recently spoke in an interview about the war being at a dead end. He is always said to have political ambitions. However, the presidential election originally planned for spring 2024 is currently not in sight due to the current martial law.