Odesa journalist discovers covert surveillance device in her car

Odesa-based journalist and blogger Iryna Hryb reports discovering a listening and tracking device in her car.

She wrote about this on Facebook on January 19 and shared the details with the IMI.

She noted that the system she found in the car was not cheap and was online non-stop.

"An autonomous power unit, a GPS, Wi-Fi, audio control. Simply put, they were listening to Irochka and tracking where he was going. This piece of marvel was installed about 10 days ago. I hope you enjoyed driving around with Irochka, but enough is enough. It is a shame that in a country at war, the law enforcement is spending resources on intimidation and persecution of journalists and bloggers," the journalist wrote.

In her comment to IMI, she clarified that she discovered the device today, on January 19. By now she has called the police, who are removing the listening device from her car. Iryna noted that she would write a statement to the police under articles 171 ("Preclusion of legal professional activities of journalists") and 359 ("Unlawful acquisition, sale or use of special technology for secret obtaining of information,") of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

She said that her friends pointed out a malfunction in her car two weeks ago, but she herself noticed it two days ago. In particular, the battery was draining very quickly.

Iryna Hryb believes that the surveillance has to do with her report on the Odesa oblast grain corridor, which, according to her, featured representatives of the Odesa Oblast Military Administration, the Bureau of Economic Security, the Odesa Customs Offie and the Tax Office.

She added that on January 13 there was an attempt to hack into her Telegram channel "Irochka Explains" and that she reported the incident there.

In the past, Iryna Hryb was the editor-in-chief of the local media outlet USI. Now she runs her own Telegram channel "Irochka Explains".

Photos and videos by Iryna Holub on Facebook