It doesn't matter if it's true or not in the same way a gun is always loaded.
This reminds me of "Thing" -- a passive bugging device hidden inside a wooden carving of the American Great Seal and given to the American Ambassador to Russia by Russian school children. It operated for years and was discovered only by accident. Beware of Russians bearing gifts (if you are a diplomat).
Seems like subtlety is not SVR's strongest suit. One would have to be dumb not to be suspicious of those gifts.
The coverage sounds like a poorly done hit job in the "questioning" style of Fox News. The title doesn't even assert that spying happened. The accusations come with no proof but with ample citations of "unnamed diplomats".
You're right. Russia is such an upstanding world citizen, the idea that they would spy on others just beggars belief.
Could be. But why would anybody's security staff let him/her retain and use it?