Dismay in The Hague: The Second Chamber Foreign Affairs Committee was rolled in flour by two Russian impostors. Its members thought they were speaking, by videoconference, to a close associate of Alexeï Navalny and to the head of an NGO, they were in reality dealing with two men who turned out to be “comedians”, but suspected of having links with Russian services and power in Moscow.
The incident took place on April 21 before being revealed by the daily By Volkskrant. The deputies wanted to know more about the fate of the opponent to President Vladimir Putin, ill and transferred to a hospital structure after his hunger strike in prison. And they thought to inquire with Leonid Volkov, leader of the team of Mr. Navalny, and Ivan Zhdanov, director of FBK, Fund for the fight against corruption, created by the opponent.
They were unaware that in fact Vladimir Kouznetsov and Alexeï Stolyarov had taken the place of the two concerned. This duo of entertainers was not at its first attempt: known as “Vovan” and “Lexus”, they had just trapped Baltic and Ukrainian parliamentarians as well as a British Conservative MP. Already on their list were an Amnesty International leader, Polish President Andrzej Duda, singer Elton John and Prince Harry. Without forgetting Emmanuel Macron, who thought of speaking to the Ukrainian president but limited himself to a few superficial words.
It apparently took a long time for the Dutch deputies to realize this “deep fake”, a vast hoax. Mr. Volkov’s lookalike gave them a forty-five minute intro before claiming bitcoins and showing off a wooden gun and pink piggy bank. To the questions of elected officials, the two men answered systematically: “Are you ready to go on a hunger strike like Navalny?” “
“Comedians close to the interests of the Kremlin”
“It was the most bizarre conversation of my career”Social Democrat MP Kati Piri confided after the fact. Many of his colleagues preferred not to dwell, indicating only that the session ended with a general burst of laughter. And confessing that they had nevertheless been touched by doubt when they saw one of their interlocutors wearing a bathrobe and the other apparently alcoholic …
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