The affair sparked reactions right up to the top of the state.
A senior official of the Ukrainian intelligence services (SBU) was fired following the wiretapping of journalists from an investigative media revealed in January, a source within these services said on Monday.
In January, the Ukrainian authorities announced the opening of an investigation into the “illegal wiretapping and video recording” of journalists from the Bihus Info media, known in Ukraine for its anti-corruption investigations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky himself reacted, saying that “any pressure on journalists was unacceptable”.
“The head of the SBU department for state protection, Roman Sementchenko, was fired because of the surveillance of the Bihus Info editorial office,” said a source within the SBU, speaking under the guise of 'anonymity.
According to her, the decision to dismiss was taken by the head of the SBU and validated by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Shameful operation”
Earlier on Monday, the SBU indicated in a press release that it had “made appropriate personnel decisions”, while justifying the wiretapping by the fact that “certain Bihus Info employees were among the clients of drug traffickers”.
The Bihus Info editorial team, for its part, denounced a “shameful special operation” by the SBU which involved more than 30 people, after almost two years of Russian invasion of the country.
In January, Bihus Info admitted that some of its cameramen had consumed “illegal substances” during a New Year’s party, audio recordings of conversations and videos of which were published on YouTube.
The media also revealed that his team had been tapped for several months, particularly on their cell phones.