Implications of Zaluzhnyi’s office being bugged – expert interview

There is nothing particularly strange about an eavesdropping device—a bug—being discovered in the office of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi, military expert Mykhailo Zhyrokhov said in an interview with NV Radio on Dec. 18.

NV: Some kind of eavesdropping device has been discovered in one of the offices which Zaluzhnyi could potentially use in the future. What conclusions should we draw from this?

Zhyrokhov: Bugs have always been and everywhere. Here is a question for the army counterintelligence which failed or could work better. By the way, only a microphone was found, with no [devices] for recording. Either it has already been removed, or it was planned to be connected later.

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I don’t see this as a serious threat yet as it was found in the premises that could potentially be used by Mr. Zaluzhnyi and not in his current office.

NV: Hanna Malyar, former deputy Defense Minister, says that everyone always assumes they can be eavesdropped on. And when some information is conveyed via speech, everyone pays attention to it. What does it mean? Do people speak in codes or turn on loud music during important conversations?

Zhyrokhov: Absolutely correct, this practice is widespread among the military. When it comes to some information that is not widely shared, even if they talk to each other, some points are always obfuscated. And it’s very difficult for a person who isn’t from the military to understand what they’re talking about.

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This Soviet past makes itself felt when the KGB spied on almost everyone, from party members to military personnel. Despite the fact that the majority already have Ukrainian and Western military education, some of these principles are unchanged.

NV: Journalist Yuriy Butusov has information from his own sources that there was more than one microphone, with more found at the office of Zaluzhnyi’s assistant. What can we expect? If this turns out not to be an isolated case, are we now going to have fake or not fake recordings of some conversations?

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Zhyrokhov: It’s clear that we’ll see a bunch of fake news, primarily by the Moscow-based psyops, in the coming days or weeks. And these fake stories are primarily intended for Western audiences.

And the Russians have only one goal now, namely, to set Ukraine at loggerheads with the West for the latter to reduce (or ideally to stop) Western aid, both military and financial, to Ukraine.

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