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Vovan and Lexus are Russian comedians Vladimir Kuznetsov or Krasnov (nickname: Vovan222) and Aleksei Stolyarov; they are noted for their prank telephone calls to prominent individuals.
The duo often prank those who are critical of the Russian government or Russian foreign policy, particularly non-Russians; they have been called
Vovan came to public attention in late 2011, when after that year's controversial parliamentary elections in Russia, he telephoned the chairman of Russia's Central Election Commission
In September 2015, Vovan and Lexus played a telephone prank on English musician Elton John; Vovan impersonated Russian president
state actors
In United States constitutional law, a state actor is a person who is acting on behalf of a governmental body, and is therefore subject to limitations imposed on government by the United States Constitution, including the First, Fifth, and Four ...
for the Russian government or the Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia's principal security agency, a claim the comedians deny.
Background
Vovan
Vovan came to public attention in late 2011, when after that year's controversial parliamentary elections in Russia, he telephoned the chairman of Russia's Central Election Commission Vladimir Churov
Vladimir Yevgenyevich Churov (russian: Владимир Евгеньевич Чуров; born March 27, 1953, in Leningrad, Soviet Union) is a Russian official and politician. From March 2007 to March 2016, he served a member (delegated by the S ...
, introducing himself as Deputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...
Arkady Dvorkovich
Arkady Vladimirovich Dvorkovich (russian: Арка́дий Влади́мирович Дворко́вич; born 26 March 1972) is a Russian politician and economist, who was Deputy Prime Minister in Dmitry Medvedev's Cabinet from 21 May 2012 ...
and almost convinced Churov the President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Dmitry Medvedev intended to fire him. In June 2012, he phoned Vitaly Mutko
Vitaly Leontiyevich Mutko (russian: Виталий Леонтьевич Мутко; born Viktor Leontiyevich Mutko; 8 December 1958) is a Russian politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia from 2016–2020.
From 2008 to 2016, ...
, the Russian Minister of Sports, and persuaded him to apologise for the drunken behaviour of athletes.
Comedy duo formation
In 2014, Vovan and Lexus began to work together. They telephonedPresident of Moldova
The President of the Republic of Moldova () is the head of state of Moldova. The current president is Maia Sandu, who assumed office on 24 December 2020.
Duties and functions
The office of the presidency in Moldova is largely ceremonial, ...
Nicolae Timofti
Nicolae Timofti (; born 22 December 1948 in Ciutulești, Moldavian SSR) is a Moldovan jurist and politician who was President of Moldova from 23 March 2012 until 23 December 2016. He served as head of Moldova's Supreme Magistrate Council and wa ...
, posing as Georgian politician Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili ( ka, მიხეილ სააკაშვილი ; uk, Міхеіл Саакашвілі ; born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist.
, and spoke with General Kevin McNeely in the United States, to whom Vovan introduced himself as the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov
Arsen Borysovych Avakov hy, Արսեն Բորիսի Ավակով (born 2 January 1964) is a Ukrainian politician and businessman. From 2014 to 2021 he was Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs, first being appointed in the first cabinet of P ...
. McNeely disclosed to the pranksters information about the supply of US military aid to Ukraine during the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War
The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since February 2014. Following Ukraine's Rev ...
.
Elton John prank
In September 2015, Vovan and Lexus played a telephone prank on English musician Elton John; Vovan impersonated Russian president Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
and Lexus pretended to be his translator. They claimed to be discussing the rights of gay people in Russia. Erroneously believing the call to be genuine, John, on Instagram, made a post congratulating Putin for having contacted John to discuss the issue. Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov
Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov ( rus, Дмитрий Сергеевич Песков, p=pʲɪˈskof; born 17 October 1967) is a Russian diplomat and the press secretary for Russian President Vladimir Putin. and Putin telephoned Elton John apologising for the prank and describing the pranksters as "harmless".
Other prominent individuals
By 2015, Vovan and Lexus had pranked many prominent people, including former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, American statesman John McCain, Soviet dissidentValeriya Novodvorskaya
Valeriya (russian: Валерия) is a stage name of Alla Yurievna Perfilova (russian: Алла Юрьевна Перфилова, born April 17, 1968 in Atkarsk), a Russian singer and fashion model. Valeriya, who is a recipient of the titles Pe ...
, Russian politician Vladimir Medinsky
Vladimir Rostislavovich Medinsky (russian: link=no, Владимир Ростиславович Мединский, uk, Володимир Ростиславович Мединський; born July 18, 1970) is a Russian political figure, acad ...
, Ukrainian politician Vitali Klitschko
Vitali Volodymyrovych Klitschko (; uk, Віта́лій Володи́мирович Кличко́ ; born 19 July 1971) is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer who serves as mayor of Kyivviral Russian politician 
In 2020, Vovan and Lexus made two telephone calls to
As many of the people they prank are those critical of the Russian government or Russian foreign policy, particularly non-Russians, critics say that Kuznetsov and Stolyarov work for the Russian authorities or Russia's security service (the FSB), or are otherwise involved in the Kremlin's foreign political interference programmes. The British government has repeated this claim. The duo deny being
Natalia Poklonskaya
Natalia Vladimirovna Poklonskaya (russian: Наталья Владимировна Поклонская, Natal'ya Vladimirovna Poklonskaya, links=yes (); uk, Наталія Володимирівна Поклонська, translit=Nataliia Volo ...
, Russian ballerina Anastasia Volochkova, Russian footballer Aleksei Panin, and Russian politician Vitaly Milonov
Vitaly Valentinovich Milonov (russian: Виталий Валентинович Милонов; born 23 January 1974) is a Russian politician, deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation since 2016. A member of United Russia, he has served ...
.
In February 2016, Vovan and Lexus pranked President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; they introduced themselves as Ukrainian politicians Petro Poroshenko
Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko ( uk, Петро́ Олексі́йович Пороше́нко, ; born 26 September 1965) is a Ukrainian businessman and politician who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. Poroshenko se ...
and Arseniy Yatsenyuk
Arseniy Petrovych Yatsenyuk ( uk, Арсеній Петрович Яценюк ; born 22 May 1974) is a Ukrainian politician, economist and lawyer who served as Prime Minister of Ukraine twice – from 27 February 2014 to 27 November 2014 and f ...
. Since April 2016, Vovan was co-host of weekly television prank show ''Zvonok'' (" heCall") on the Russian channel NTV NTV may refer to:
Television
* NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh
* NTV (India), Telugu regional channel
* NTV (Kenya)
* NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia
* NTV (Newport Televis ...
. He co-presented the show with Lexus and Mikhail Gendelev. In July 2019, Vovan and Lexus called President of North Macedonia Zoran Zaev
Zoran Zaev ( mk, Зоран Заев, ; born 8 October 1974) is a Macedonian economist and politician who served as prime minister of North Macedonia from May 2017 to January 2020, and again from August 2020 to January 2022.
Prior to entering ...
and they introduced themselves as Poroshenko.
In early 2018, they pranked US Representative Adam Schiff
Adam Bennett Schiff (born June 22, 1960) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who has served as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Par ...
. Posing as the head of the Ukrainian parliament Andriy Parubiy, they said he had compromising nude photographs of US President Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
after a claim Trump visited Moscow in November 2013 and was provided an escort with Russian singer and model Olga Buzova
Olga Igorevna Buzova (russian: Ольга Игоревна Бузова; born 20 January 1986) is a Russian media personality and singer. Buzova is regarded as one of the most successful Russian contemporary entertainers.
Buzova is most known ...
at the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. Vovan and Lexus also said Buzova met with Trump in New York sometime later, where a supposed affair took place. Afterwards, Schiff was convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin was made aware of the photographs by the duo, who said Ksenia Sobchak
Ksenia Anatolyevna Sobchak (russian: Ксения Анатольевна Собчак, BGN/PCGN: ''Kseniya Anatol'yevna Sobchak'', GOST: ''Ksenija Anatolevna Sobčak'', ; born 5 November 1981) is a Russian public figure, TV anchor, journalist, ...
provided Buzova with an escort to Trump and that Sobchak was Putin's god-daughter, that Vovan and Lexus had secretly visited Ukraine, and that the Ukrainian government had access to the materials. The duo said Putin had a mediator, Russian singer Arkady Ukupnik
Arkady Semyonovich Ukupnik (russian: Арка́дий Семёнович Уку́пник; born February 18, 1953, Kamianets-Podilskyi, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
, who met ex-advisor of President Trump Michael Flynn on Brighton Beach
Brighton Beach is a neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, within the greater Coney Island area along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Brighton Beach is bounded by Coney Island proper at Ocean Parkway to the ...
, Brooklyn, and used a secret password, " Weather is good on Deribasovskaya" – the name of a Russian-American film – and that Ukupnik told Flynn the comprising photographs would not be released if Trump would cancel all sanctions against Russia.
In 2019, during the Venezuelan presidential crisis
The Venezuelan presidential crisis is an ongoing political crisis concerning the leadership and the legitimate president of Venezuela; the office of the president has been contested since 10 January 2019, with the nation and the world divide ...
, they pranked Speaker of the National Assembly of Venezuela
The National Assembly ( es, Asamblea Nacional) is the legislature for Venezuela that was first elected in 2000. It is a unicameral body made up of a variable number of members, who were elected by a "universal, direct, personal, and secret" vo ...
Juan Guaidó
Juan Gerardo Guaidó Márquez (born 28 July 1983) is a Venezuelan politician, a former member of the social-democratic Popular Will party, and federal deputy to the National Assembly representing the state of Vargas. On 23 January 2019, Guaid ...
, and self-proclaimed interim president of the country, introducing themselves as Ueli Maurer
Ulrich "Ueli" Maurer (; born 1 December 1950) is a Swiss politician who has served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council since 2009. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), he was President of the Swiss Confederation in 2013 and 2019 ...
, President of the Swiss Confederation
The president of the Swiss Confederation, also known as the president of the Confederation or colloquially as the president of Switzerland, is the head of Switzerland's seven-member Federal Council, the country's executive branch. Elected by ...
, whom they told Nicolás Maduro had accounts in a fictitious Swiss bank and asked him to provide Swiss authorities with a legal request to freeze Maduro's assets. Vovan and Lexus also called US Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams
Elliott Abrams (born January 24, 1948) is an American politician and lawyer, who has served in foreign policy positions for presidents Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump. Abrams is considered to be a neoconservative. He is current ...
, who dismissed the possibility of military action by the US in the country during the call.
In 2020, Vovan and Lexus made two telephone calls to Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger son of Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. He is fifth in the line of succ ...
, and introduced themselves as Greta Thunberg
Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3 January 2003) is a Swedish environmental activist who is known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation.
Thunberg's activism began when she persuaded ...
and her father. They also impersonated the Thunbergs in calls to American politician Maxine Waters
Maxine Moore Waters (née Carr; born August 15, 1938) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 1991. The district, numbered as the 29th district from 1991 to 1993 and as the 35th district from 1993 to 2013, inc ...
, an American politician and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau
Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...
. Impersonating Thunberg and her father, Vovan and Lexus also mentioned the shooting down of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752
Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 (PS752/AUI752) was a scheduled international civilian passenger flight from Tehran to Kyiv, operated by Ukraine International Airlines. On 8January 2020, the Boeing 737-800 flying the route was shot dow ...
and urged Canada to leave NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
.
Posing as Thunberg during the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries in the US, Vovan and Lexus pranked Democratic presidential candidate US Senator Bernie Sanders. In January 2020 the duo also pranked at the time the presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris
Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...
who later became the Vice presidential nominee for Joe Biden. The duo posing as Greta and her father claimed that they had a secret recording of a secret encounter with US President Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
at the September 2019 United Nations meeting they claimed that Trump told Greta “You will never achieve your goal” and they claimed that they were in Canada and would be returning to the US soon and that they should arrange a meeting to provide copies of the recording to help Kamala in her campaign.The duo also pranked singer Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell ( ; born December 18, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single " Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her brother Finneas O'Connell, with whom ...
and actor Joaquin Phoenix
Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent films. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academ ...
. In April 2021, Vovan and Lexus approached politicians in a number of European countries by impersonating Leonid Volkov, a Russian opposition politician and chief of staff of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny
Alexei Anatolievich Navalny ( rus, links=no, Алексей Анатольевич Навальный, , ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ nɐˈvalʲnɨj; born 4 June 1976) is a Russian opposition leader, lawyer, and anti-corruption act ...
's campaign. It was reported they used deepfake
Deepfakes (a portmanteau of " deep learning" and "fake") are synthetic media in which a person in an existing image or video is replaced with someone else's likeness. While the act of creating fake content is not new, deepfakes leverage powerfu ...
technology to impersonate Volkov. Speaking to ''The Verge
''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts.
The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media ...
'', the two denied using deepfakes and said they used a look-alike.
In October 2020, Vovan and Lexus impersonated Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
Sviatlana Heorhiyeuna Tsikhanouskaya (' Pilipchuk;, , ; russian: Светлана Георгиевна Тихановская, , Svetlana Georgiyevna Tikhanovskaya, , , born 11 September 1982) is a Belarusian educator and the leader of the Bel ...
the Belarusian opposition leader in a virtual video conference with Danish lawmakers. In July 2021, President of the US National Endowment for Democracy
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is an organization in the United States that was founded in 1983 for promoting democracy in other countries by promoting political and economic institutions such as political groups, trade unions, ...
(NED) Carl Gershman was the subject of a hoax by Vovan and Lexus, who convinced Gershman and other NED officials they were speaking to Tsikhanouskaya and an aide. Gersham said the NED "support dmany, many groups and we have a very, very active program throughout the country", and NED had contact with the chief aide to Alexei Navalny. The NED official in charge of its work in Belarus said the NED had helped inspire that year's protests against Lukashenko.
In November 2022, on the night following the 2022 missile explosion in Poland, they pranked Polish President Andrzej Duda
Andrzej Sebastian Duda (; born 16 May 1972) is a Polish lawyer and politician who has served as president of Poland since 6 August 2015. Before becoming president, Andrzej Duda was a member of Polish Lower House (Sejm) from 2011 to 2014 and th ...
into thinking he was talking with Emmanuel Macron. Duda's office later stated that he realized he was speaking with an impersonator and ended the conversation.
In June 2022, they pranked J.K. Rowling
Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...
, making her believe she was on a Zoom
Zoom may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Zoom (software), videoconferencing application
* Page zooming, the ability to magnify or shrink a portion of a page on a computer display
* Zooming user interface, a graphical interface allowing for image ...
call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...
and discussing the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
.
In February 2023, they announced that they pranked Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...
, pretending to be Petro Poroshenko
Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko ( uk, Петро́ Олексі́йович Пороше́нко, ; born 26 September 1965) is a Ukrainian businessman and politician who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. Poroshenko se ...
. The full conversation has not been released.
Controversies
Independent Latvian news website '' Meduza'' said of Vovan and Lexus; "for some reason, their spoofs always seem to serve the interests of Russia's authorities". Vovan and Lexus told the website they would never play pranks on Putin allies such as head of ChechnyaRamzan Kadyrov
Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov ce, КъадаргӀеран Ахьмат-кӏант Рамзан, translit= (born 5 October 1976) is a Russian politician who currently serves as the Head of the Chechen Republic. He was formerly affiliated to the ...
or Primate
Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter including ...
of the Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
Patriarch Kirill
Kirill or Cyril (russian: link=Russian, Кирилл, chu, , secular name Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyayev, russian: link=no, Владимир Михайлович Гундяев; born 20 November 1946) is a Russian Orthodox bishop. He became ...
.
As many of the people they prank are those critical of the Russian government or Russian foreign policy, particularly non-Russians, critics say that Kuznetsov and Stolyarov work for the Russian authorities or Russia's security service (the FSB), or are otherwise involved in the Kremlin's foreign political interference programmes. The British government has repeated this claim. The duo deny being state actors
In United States constitutional law, a state actor is a person who is acting on behalf of a governmental body, and is therefore subject to limitations imposed on government by the United States Constitution, including the First, Fifth, and Four ...
, and Vovan has stated that he is free as to whom he pranks and does not work for hire, but that friends sometimes suggest who they prank next.
In Russia, some have called Vovan's pranks "telephone hooliganism". After participating with them in a program on state television channel Zvezda, Russian journalist and television presenter Mikhail Kozhukhov called the duo "a disgrace to the profession to which I belong".
YouTube ban and migration to Rutube
In 2022, during theRussian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
, clipped footage of British defence secretary Ben Wallace in a prank call by Vovan and Lexus was released online. Vovan and Lexus impersonated Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal, saying Ukraine wished to promote its own nuclear deterrent to protect itself from Russia, a claim previously made by the Russian government. Vovan and Lexus also called British home secretary Priti Patel. After this prank, on 26 March 2022, YouTube banned Vovan and Lexus, and on 22 March that year, the British Ministry of Defence had called for YouTube to remove all videos of calls by Vovan and Lexus. Following the ban, the two prankers opened up the channel on Rutube
RUTUBE is a Russian video platform. It includes a library of licensed content including movies, series, cartoons, shows, and live broadcasts. It also hosts blogs, podcasts, game streams, and educational content.
RUTUBE has web, iOS, Andro ...
and continued publishing new content.
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vovan Year of birth missing (living people) Russian comedy duos Living people Russian television presenters YouTube controversies Prank calling Prank YouTubers