British Minister Fooled by Russian 'Dirty Tricks'

An imposter posing as Ukraine's prime minister tricked UK's defence secretary in a video call according to a suspected Russian ploy.

Ben Wallace had a hoax call for about 10 minutes with the man, who appeared to have gone through a lot of trouble to look like the real Ukrainian premier, Denys Shmyhal, according to a defence source.

The imposter asked questions related to Ukraine's foreign policy, but Wallace soon became suspicious when the queries became more "wild", the source added.

At one point he asked the defence secretary: "Did you get the substance we have sent?", to which the latter replied that he did not know what the man was talking about.

Hence, the British minister ordered an immediate inquiry into the security breach on Thursday.

Posting on Twitter on Thursday afternoon, Wallace wrote: "Today an attempt was made by an imposter claiming to be Ukrainian PM to speak with me.

https://twitter.com/BWallaceMP/status/1504486044078465027?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1504486044078465027%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.sky.com%2Fstory%2Fukraine-war-defence-secretary-ben-wallace-blasts-russian-dirty-tricks-as-he-reveals-call-from-imposter-claiming-to-be-ukrainian-pm-12568585

"He posed several misleading questions and after becoming suspicious I terminated the call.

"No amount of Russian disinformation, distortion and dirty tricks can distract from Russia's human rights abuses and illegal invasion of Ukraine. A desperate attempt."

In like manner, Home Secretary Priti Patel later revealed she had also recently been targeted by a hoax caller.

"This also happened to me earlier this week," she posted in response to Wallace's tweet. "Pathetic attempt at such difficult times to pide us. We stand with Ukraine."