Two Russian “pranksters” whose hoax telephone calls have fooled politicians and pop stars laugh uproariously in a Moscow bar as they read the reports about their latest stunt.
The pair, 30-year-old Vladimir “Vovan” Kuznetsov and 28-year-old Alexei “Lexus” Stolyarov, regularly pull off high-profile pranks on the famous and powerful — but target mostly Kremlin foes.
Opposition supporters have even suggested they are working on the orders of the Kremlin or the nation’s security service, the FSB, but they both deny the claims.
Photo: AFP
In September last year, they convinced Elton John that Russian President Vladimir Putin was on the line and wanted to meet to discuss gay rights.
Delighted, the openly gay British pop star gushed online about the telephone call, only for the Kremlin to deny it ever happened. Putin then contacted Elton and offered him a genuine meeting, apologizing for the pranksters, who he described as “harmless.”
In their latest headline-grabbing wheeze, they tricked the legal team of Ukrainian military pilot Nadiya Savchenko, who is on trial in Russia over the killings of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine. Posing as advisers of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, they persuaded Savchenko’s lawyers to relay a message from the head of state, imploring her to halt her hunger strike, which she did.
Savchenko later claimed that “whole departments of Russian special services” were behind the ruse.
Kuznetsov mocked her claim.
“If her lawyer’s an idiot, what’s the FSB got to do with it?” he said.
Alongside him sat his partner in crime Stolyarov, sporting a Beatles T-shirt and leather jacket.
“According to the Internet comments, we became [FSB] colonels or majors long ago,” said Kuznetsov, a quietly-spoken man wearing a black overcoat.
Yet their detractors have suggested that the pranksters could have only contacted such high-profile individuals with help from Russia’s spy agency.
Savchenko, who risks a long jail term if convicted, might not seem an obvious target for a lighthearted prank, but the pair insist that their stunts are in the public interest.
“We consider it benefits our country,” Stolyarov said. “We don’t have the aim to change anything, but if it works out for the best, we’re all for it.”
The pair also claim to have duped Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pretending to be Poroshenko and Turkish Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk after Ankara shot down a Russian fighter plane on the Turkish border with Syria last year.
In a recording aired on Russian television, Erdogan apparently vowed not to apologize to Putin. A source in the Turkish president’s office denied to RIA Novosti news agency that the call was genuine.
“We need to show the essence of such politicians,” Stolyarov said.
The comedy duo claim that when planning hoaxes, presidents have proved easier to track down than ordinary people.
“They are more simple, they are more trusting,” Stolyarov said.
“At least you know where to phone first,” Kuznetsov added.
Top of the hoaxers’ dream hit list are US presidential hopefuls Hillary Rodham Clinton and Donald Trump, and even leaders of the Islamic State group, but they are cautious about divulging their immediate plans, saying only that one stunt would center on the doping scandal engulfing Russian athletics.
Kuznetsov, who comes from the southern city of Krasnodar, trained as a lawyer before a stint working as a showbiz reporter.
Stolyarov traces his roots to Yekaterinburg in the Ural mountains. He studied economics and met Kuznetsov after founding the Web site Prank.ru.
“So far we haven’t made any mistakes,” Kuznetsov said.
The Kremlin has yet to return their calls.
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