British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has been scammed by a Russian impostor who he spoke to thinking it was the former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
In a video now going viral, Cameron can be seen talking to someone, supposedly Poroshenko, over video call. The two discuss in detail about the US presidential candidate Donald Trump, Labour, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Petro Poroshenko served as Ukraine's president from 2014 to 2019.
In a video published by Guido Fawkes, Cameron is heard saying that he does not think Britain’s approach to the Ukraine war would change under a Labour government.
He is also heard talking about a private dinner he had with Trump in April, during which he lobbied him to allow Republicans to vote in favour of US military aid for Ukraine.
Who were the scamsters?
The call, seemingly lasting about 15 minutes, shows Cameron speaking on his mobile phone, casually dressed and outdoors. It was conducted by Russian pranksters known by the aliases "Vovan and Lexus."
The pair is renowned within Russia for having tricked numerous Western politicians throughout the years, such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Britain's former defence minister in 2022, Ben Wallace.
Vovan and Lexus have previously refuted Western claims of their association with Russian intelligence services, yet their inquiries to targets frequently align with topics pertinent to the Russian state.
‘Kremlin spreading disinformation’
A spokesperson for Britain's Foreign Office, in a statement, said that they made public the fact that this call happened weeks ago, “to do the right thing and make sure others were warned of the risk at the earliest opportunity.”
The spokesperson said the Foreign Secretary understood that it was a private call with a Ukrainian politician, and claimed the Kremlin was spreading disinformation "to try to distract from their illegal activities in Ukraine and the human rights abuses being committed there".
