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3 Russian Officials Arrested After Bug Catches Them Accepting A Bribe

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Good morning, I'm Renee Montagne.

In a world where hacking is at the center of most spy stories, there's something refreshingly old-fashioned about just planting a bug, which is what got three senior Russian officials arrested. The Russian newspaper Kommersant reports that a bugged samovar - used to boil water for tea - was gifted to a top corruption official. Left in his office, the samovar's hidden mic caught the men instead taking bribes from a crime kingpin.

It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.