Russian Hoaxers Posing as Ukrainian PM Release Footage of Call With UK Def Sec

They asked Wallace about Kyiv's nuclear weapons plans, who attacked the Kremlin for "resorting to pranks and video."

UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace. 

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/BWallaceMP)

Two famous Russian hoaxers – Vovan and Lexus – have published the video footage of the call they made to Ben Wallace, the defence secretary of the United Kingdom (UK).

The prank call happened when Wallace was visiting Poland last week on 18 March.

The defence secretary had already revealed some of the details of the hoax call last week, claiming he had been called by an "imposter" posing as the prime minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal.

During the prank call, it appears that Wallace is asked whether he will support Ukraine's nuclear weapons plans, a theory that is being falsely parroted by the Kremlin.

A source in the defence ministry told The Guardian that the clip is doctored.

"What you don’t hear is the defence secretary also saying that the UK can’t have anything to do with alleged Ukrainian nuclear ambitions, because the UK is committed to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty," the source added.

Wallace, in response to the prank, tweeted that "things must be going so badly for the Kremlin that they are now resorting to pranks and video fakes. Not the actions of a confident government, but then again after the Salisbury Cathedral sightseeing story, anything is possible …"

'Kremlin Playbook,' Says UK PM 

The Home Secretary of the UK, Priti Patel, claimed that she had also been on the receiving end of a hoax call last week, and so was Secretary Nadine Dorries, according to Downing Street.

Vovan and Lexus, whose real names are Alexei Stolyarov and Vladimir Kuznetsov, are professional prank callers and have even managed to get through renowned English singer Elton John and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in his first reaction to the hoax calls, claimed on Monday, 21 March, that the Russian state was behind the mischief.

The official spokesperson for the prime minister said that "the Russian state was responsible for the hoax telephone calls made to UK ministers last week."

"This is standard practice for Russian information operations and disinformation is a tactic straight from the Kremlin playbook to try to distract from their illegal activities in Ukraine and the human rights abuses being committed there," he added, as quoted by The Guardian.