The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), Valery Zaluzhny, confirmed to the media outlet RBC-Ukraine the reports that a listening device was discovered in one of the offices available for his use.
“I'll tell you this: this is the room I was supposed to use today. Yesterday, during the inspection, they found [a bug] in it,” he said.
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Zaluzhny said that this office was not his permanent work location, as he has several places from where he conducts business.
Zaluzhny said that the device was not the only one found.
The AFU General Staff reported in a social media post on Sunday that, during a routine inspection of a number of locations used by military staff : “elements of equipment for removing information were discovered.”
“Eavesdropping devices were installed in the offices designated for the work of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and employees of the staff employed to support his activities,” the post read.s
The General Staff of the Armed Forces stated that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) was informed about the found devices.
Zaluzhny, responding to the journalist's question about the possibility that someone in the General Staff could have been responsible, assured them: “No, we haven't worked with ‘ears’ for a long time.”
“Anything can happen. The investigation will prove what happened,” Zaluzhny said.
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According to the AFU, Zaluzhny was supposed to come to his office on Monday at seven in the morning. When asked whether information constituting a state secret could be disclosed there, Zaluzhny said that the room had been used before, but not for quite a significant time.
“That's why they were probably preparing for my meeting,” he said.
On Sunday, several Ukrainian mass media reported that a bug was found in Zaluzhny's office.
Later, the Security Service of Ukraine disclosed a criminal case is being investigated under Article 359 part 2 (illegal acquisition, sale, or use of special technical means of obtaining information) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
At the same time, the SBU stated that the equipment was not found directly in Zaluzhny's office but in one of the rooms that he could use for work in the future.
It was reported that the device was not working.
“Any means of accumulating information or means of remote transmission of audio recordings were not found. This technical device will be handed over for examination,” the SBU added.
According to a survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KMIS), trust in the Armed Forces remains high, with 96 percent of respondents expressing trust, consistent with December 2022 figures.
Additionally, 88 percent of Ukrainians trust the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Zaluzhny, with only 4 percent expressing distrust.
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