Suspected eavesdropping device found in Lviv mayor's official car
Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovyi announced that a device possibly used for eavesdropping, containing an antenna and a SIM card, was discovered in his official service car. Sadovyi turned to law enforcement about the find and publicly challenged authorities to reinstall the device if it was placed there legally. The discovery comes roughly a year after a similar suspected listening device was reportedly found in his office.
Key points
- A device possibly used for eavesdropping was found in Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovyi's service car; the find was reported on 18 September in some accounts.
- The device contained an antenna and a SIM card; Sadovyi showed it on video, displaying boards with microcircuits, wires and an antenna.
- The car was checked after its battery drained fully within about a month and a knocking sound was heard inside.
- Sadovyi said he did not know who could have installed the device and turned to law enforcement.
- He said he would inform the heads of the relevant services and, if the device was installed officially by court order, invited law enforcement to retrieve it.
- About a year earlier, a similar suspected listening device was reportedly found in Sadovyi's office, hidden in a radio-telephone charging unit alongside a memory card and a SIM card.
Why it matters
It is the second suspected eavesdropping device found in the immediate working environment of the mayor of a major Ukrainian city within roughly a year. Sadovyi publicly challenged law enforcement to retrieve the device if it was placed there by court order, raising questions about who may have installed it and under what authority. The episode adds to public scrutiny of surveillance and the protection of senior Ukrainian officials during wartime.
What happened
Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovyi announced that a device that may have been used for eavesdropping was found in his official service car. According to his account, the car had been examined after its battery drained to zero within about a month and a knocking sound was heard inside; dismantling part of the vehicle revealed the device, which contained an antenna and a SIM card. Sadovyi showed the find on video, displaying several boards with microcircuits, wires and an antenna. He said he did not know who could have installed the device, said he would inform the heads of the relevant services, and turned to law enforcement. If the device had been installed officially by court order, he said, law enforcement should come and take it; if it was all legal, he said, they could install it again. Some reports place the discovery on 18 September.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
All six supplied articles are Ukrainian-language media and treat the discovery as a serious security incident, foregrounding Sadovyi's public video demonstration of the device. Coverage highlights his quote challenging law enforcement to reinstall the device if it was legal, and his framing that publicity is his protection. Ukrainian sources also tie the two episodes together as a pattern, emphasizing the prior office discovery about a year earlier and the lack of a concrete answer about its origin.
Where reporting differs
Some sources specify that the device was found in Sadovyi's service car on 18 September, while others do not give a precise date. The earlier office discovery is cited in one source as 17 September 2025 and more generally as September 2025 in others, with minor variation.
Background
About one year earlier, Sadovyi said specialists had found a listening device hidden in a radio-telephone charging unit in his office, containing a memory card and a SIM card, after his work phone began to malfunction. He said the office device was found shortly after visits by then-Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, Verkhovna Rada speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk, and foreign guests. After that discovery the SBU opened criminal proceedings and said it would seize the equipment for examination; Sadovyi says he never received a specific answer about what the device was.