Ukraine Investigates Discovery of Bugging Device Linked to Top General

Facts

• A bugging device was said to be discovered in the office of the Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi on Sunday, military sources told the Ukrainian publication Ukrainska Pravda. The device was reportedly discovered Sunday during a typical inspection according to the publication.¹
• "The room was to have been the Commander-in-Chief's new office and was being inspected prior to him moving into it," the outlet further reported. "Similar devices were also planted in the offices of Zaluzhnyi’s colleagues."¹
• Later on Sunday, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said in a statement that it had opened a criminal probe into the discovery. The SBU also insisted that the office where the "listening devices" were found had not been used by the general. "We emphasize that the device was found not directly in Zaluzhnyi's office, but in one of the premises that could have been used by him in the future for work," the agency said.²
• The SBU also said that preliminary investigations showed that the device appeared to be "in a non-operational state," further adding that no means of storage or remote transmission of audio recordings were found. While there is nothing to suggest there are any inaccuracies, omissions, or mistruths in the SBU statement, it must also be stressed that its details cannot be independently confirmed.²
• The news comes as, some 22 months into Ukraine's war with Russia, multiple reports suggested that fissures among Ukraine's top leadership have become more apparent in recent weeks — including between Zaluzhnyi and Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy.³

Sources: ¹Ukrainska Pravda, ²Reuters, and ³Lowy Institute.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Reuters. While this was a serious breach that will be further investigated by Ukrainian intelligence, preliminary findings show that the device was not operational and had been placed in an office that was never used by Zaluzhnyi. The damage from this incident is rather isolated.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Ukrainska Prvada. Military sources confirmed to Ukrainska Pravda that it was in fact Zaluzhnyi's office that was targeted by the bugging. This is a very serious breach and the SBU is trying to downplay the facts in order to minimize the perceived damage from their intelligence failure.
• Nerd narrative, as provided by Metaculus. There's a 1% chance that there will be a bilateral cease-fire or peace agreement in the Russo-Ukraine conflict before 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.