Telephone conversations of journalists are being monitored in Ukraine: intelligence officer fired

This case caused a reaction right up to the top leadership of the state. A senior official in Ukraine’s intelligence services (SBU) has been fired following wiretapping of investigative media journalists uncovered in January, a security source said on Monday.

In January, Ukrainian authorities announced the start of an investigation into “illegal wiretapping and video recordings” of journalists from Bihus Info, a media outlet known in Ukraine for its anti-corruption investigations. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky himself responded by saying that “any pressure on journalists is unacceptable.”

“The head of the State Defense Department of the SBU, Roman Semenchenko, was fired due to surveillance of the editorial office of Bikhus Info,” said a source in the SBU, speaking under the cover of “anonymity.” According to her, the decision to dismiss was made by the head of the SBU and approved by President Vladimir Zelensky.

“Shameful operation”

Earlier on Monday, the SBU indicated in a press release that it “made appropriate personnel decisions,” while justifying the wiretapping by saying that “some Bihus Info employees were among the clients of drug dealers.” The editors of Bihus Info, for their part, condemned the “shameful special operation” of the SBU, in which more than 30 people took part, after almost two years of Russian invasion of the country.

In January, Bihus Info admitted that some of its operators had used “banned substances” during a New Year’s party, audio recordings of conversations and videos of which were published on YouTube. Media also reported that his team had been bugged for months, especially on mobile phones.