A comedy duo is apparently behind the fake Klitschko calls to European mayors. That’s what the two claim against the ARD political magazine “Contrasts”.
Comedians Alexei Stoliarov and Vladimir Kuznetsov target critics of Russia.
cov. A Russian comedy duo has claimed responsibility for the fake phone calls impersonating Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko. Most recently, it was reported from various European capitals, such as Vienna and Madrid, that their mayors had made video calls to a swindler posing as Vitali Klitschko. Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey was also affected and prematurely ended a meeting with the wrong Klitschko due to strange questions.
In an ARD broadcast, Vladimir Krasnov and Alexei Stoliarow confessed to these phone calls. The two comedians are known in Russia under the stage names Vovan and Lexus. They did not reveal to ARD how they were able to make contact with European politicians. All that is known is that they are said to have been successful using fake e-mail addresses. They could not provide any proof of their responsibility.
Still, it could very well be that they actually made the calls. Vovan and Lexus’ trademarks are prank calls. Numerous celebrities such as Elton John, Boris Johnson, Emmanuel Macron and most recently the Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling have been taken in by them. On Thursday they want to publish a summary of the calls with European mayors on a Russian video platform.
As ARD reports, the video calls should not have been deepfakes, in which artificial intelligence would have swapped the comedian’s face for Klitschko’s. Rather, an old recording of a video call by the mayor of Kiev is said to have been manipulated. However, the duo did not provide any information on this.
The mayor of Berlin compared these methods to modern warfare. Investigations into the case have begun. Because there was speculation that Russian secret services could be behind the contact, the alleged perpetrators denied having acted on behalf of the state. Nevertheless, the comedians have repeatedly fooled people who are critical of Russia. After the Bavarian State Opera parted ways with Anna Netrebko, they also approached director Serge Dorny.