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A “prank” video call with UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has surfaced after Britain blamed Russia for hoaxes aimed at government ministers in the hope of securing sensitive or embarrassing information.
Mr Wallace said the invasion of Ukraine “must be going so badly for the Kremlin” that it resorted to releasing “video fakes”, as the footage was published on Monday evening.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said she also spoke to imposters posing as Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, while an unsuccessful attempt was also made with Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries.
An “official teaser” of the call with Mr Wallace appeared on a YouTube account claiming it was a “video prank” with “Vovan and Lexus”, a pair previously credited with a hoax aimed at the Duke of Sussex.
Mr Wallace is shown speaking from Poland as the caller, purporting to be Mr Shmyhal, says Ukraine wants to continue a “nuclear programme” to protect itself from Moscow, a claim Russian state media has baselessly claimed in the past.
A UK Ministry of Defence source said the video was “garbage”, adding: “It’s a doctored clip.
“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 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,” the source said.
Mr Wallace did not appear to say anything particularly embarrassing or alarming in the video, but it did promote a “full interview” within “a few days”.
It was understood discussions were under way with YouTube to get the video removed.
Vovan and Lexus have previously targeted Sir Elton John, a vocal critic of Russia’s “gay propaganda” laws, critics of the Kremlin and world leaders including Canada’s Justin Trudeau.
Critics have accused the pair, whose real names are Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, of having links to Russian security services, which they deny.
Mr Wallace said at the time of the incident last week that he believed Russia was to blame and Downing Street has now publicly pointed the finger at the Kremlin.
“The Russian state was responsible for the hoax telephone calls made to UK ministers last week," Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s official spokesman said.
“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.
“We are seeing a string of distraction stories and outright lies from the Kremlin, reflecting [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s desperation as he seeks to hide the scale of the conflict and Russia’s failings on the battlefield.”
Senior government sources fear the Russians may try to doctor footage obtained in the calls in an attempt to embarrass the UK.
Mr Wallace publicly acknowledged he had been hoaxed shortly after his call on Thursday to block any attempt by Moscow to circulate footage from it.
He also launched a cross-Whitehall investigation to understand how he ended up on the video call.
Intense fighting and bombardments continue in Ukraine's Mariupol
Meanwhile on Monday, Mr Johnson hinted at more military support to Ukraine after a call with US President Joe Biden and other allies before a summit of Nato leaders on Thursday.
He discussed his “horror” at the Russian president’s use of “increasingly brutal tactics” in Ukraine, including siege warfare and attacking civilians.
Downing Street said the leaders — including France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Olaf Scholz and Italy’s Mario Draghi — affirmed their commitment to “equipping the democratically elected government in Kyiv with the tools it needs to defend itself”.
With Mr Biden set to attend the Nato summit in Brussels, Downing Street said Mr Johnson looked forward to discussing “how to increase military support to Ukraine to qualitatively improve their defensive capability”.
In Ukraine, officials rejected a Russian demand for the port city of Mariupol to surrender as the bombardment of population centres across the country continued.
In the capital Kyiv a shopping centre was hit on Sunday, killing eight people, while ammonia leaked from a chemical plant in north-eastern Ukraine after it was shelled.
According to the latest UK Ministry of Defence assessment, the Russian advance on Kyiv remains stalled against determined Ukrainian resistance, with most of Moscow’s forces still more than 25 kilometres from the centre.
But analysts believe the capital is still the Kremlin’s main military objective, although it is thought the Russians will try to force it into submission through encirclement rather than a direct assault.
The UN’s refugee agency said about 3.5 million people had fled Ukraine since the February 24 invasion while millions more are still in the country but have been forced out of their homes.
About 10,200 visas have been issued under the Ukraine family scheme as of 4pm on Sunday, the UK Home Office said.
A total of 31,500 applications have been submitted so far, according to provisional data published on the department’s website.
And about 150,000 people have expressed an interest in hosting refugees through the Homes for Ukraine programme.
