Russian pranksters manage to organise conversation with Italian PM

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has become another victim of Russian pranksters, who have already called many other European officials.

Source: European Pravda with reference to Reuters 

Details: A 13-minute audio recording of the conversation, which dates back to September, was published online on 1 November by Russian pranksters Vovan and Lexus, Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, who had pranked other European officials before.

The Office of Meloni, in its statement, expressed regret that she had been deceived by an impostor posing as the head of the African Union Commission. It said the call took place on September 18 in the run-up to meetings with African leaders at the United Nations General Assembly.

Reuters reported that, replying to the question about Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, Meloni stated: ""I see that there is a lot of fatigue, I have to say the truth, from all the sides. We (are) near the moment in which everybody understands that we need a way out."

"The problem is to find a way out which can be acceptable for both without destroying the international law," Meloni added.

Speaking about the position of Italy concerning being the first destination of many migrants who cross the Mediterranean, she complained that the international partners are not doing enough to help.

"They do all agree that only Italy has to solve this problem alone. It's a very stupid way of thinking," Meloni noted.

Background: Earlier, the State Chancellery of Estonia expressed its suspicion that a few European leaders, including Estonian PM Kaja Kallas, received calls from pranksters on behalf of the African Union.

Before that, it was reported that Elina Valtonen, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland, fell for the prank of notorious Russian pranksters who initiated a video call with her under someone else’s name, as they did earlier with other European officials.

Vovan and Lexus managed to organise a conversation with Andrej Duda, President of Poland, from the third attempt, and in the spring of 2022, they called then UK Secretary of Defence Ben Wallace on behalf of the Ukrainian PM.

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