Russia releases humiliating hoax video of Ben Wallace on call with ‘Ukrainian PM’

'Things must be going so badly for the Kremlin that they are now resorting to pranks and video fakes'

Russian pranksters have released a video of Defence Secretary Ben Wallace being duped into speaking by phone to an impostor posing as the Ukrainian prime minister. An 'official teaser' of the prank was released on YouTube hours after Britain blamed Vladimir Putin’s Russia for several hoaxes targeting government ministers in the hope of securing sensitive or embarrassing information and has been viewed over 16,000 times. The prank is believed to have been orchestrated by ‘Vovan and Lexus’ – a pair previously attributed to a hoax aimed at the Duke of Sussex. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZKrT4k7MMk During the clip, which begins with shots of London, a woman at the defence ministry can be heard putting the imposter through to Wallace, who takes the video call from a car in Poland. The caller claimed to be Ukraine’s PM Denys Shmyhal and says the country "would like to continue the nuclear programme in order protect ourselves from Russia". A confused Wallace said in principle the UK would support Ukraine as a friend, but he wouldn't be able to sign off any nuclear action. Responding to the video on Tuesday, Wallace tweeted: "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 …” https://twitter.com/BWallaceMP/status/1505975544525082630?s=20&t=8yRhmCFlk0_Qyuh1RbLjaQ Hours before the video was posted, Downing Street said it believed Russian state actors were responsible for the hoax. The hoax has raised questions over the security procedures that led to a group of Russians having access to one of the UK government's most senior cabinet ministers. Earlier this week, the real President of Ukraine met with celebrity couple Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher over Zoom. He thanked the pair for raising nearly $35 million and counting for the people of Ukraine, where Kunis was born. Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared an image of the three of them on a video call on social media and praised the couple for their "determination" in raising money for the more than 10 million refugees. Related Links

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