Russian pranksters who target Western politicians get state award

A duo of Russian pranksters who often target and compromise people the Russian state is interested in have been given a top state award in the Kremlin, the RIA state news agency reported on Thursday (4 July).

RIA published a picture of the two pranksters Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, who use the aliases “Vovan and Lexus,” at a Kremlin award ceremony wearing what appear to be Order of Friendship awards as they clutched flutes of champagne.

It said the ceremony had taken place on Wednesday.

The award is given to Russian and foreign nationals for strengthening peace, friendship, cooperation and understanding between Russia and other nations, among other criteria.

There was no immediate word from the Russian pranksters who last month released footage of a video call they did with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron after tricking him into thinking he was speaking to former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko.

The duo is well-known inside Russia having duped a string of politicians over the years, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and, in 2018, former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Meloni fell victim to a prank call by the  comedians who made her believe she was discussing Ukraine and EU migration policy with the chairman of the African Union Commission.

Back in 2018, the then Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was tricked by the duo into believing he was talking to the new Armenian PM. In the call, Juncker described Russian President Vladimir Putin as his friend but said US President Donald Trump couldn’t understand what the world is about.

Vovanm and Lexus also succeded to trick former EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini.

(Edited by Georgi Gotev)

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