Jerome Powell, head of the US central bank, became the target of two Russian pranksters who posed as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on a call.
The duo, supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin, made the Federal Reserve Chairman talk on topics ranging from inflation to how Russia managed the economy amid sanctions.
The Fed said that the videos with Powell appeared to have been edited. Also, it could not confirm the accuracy of the viral clips of the Fed chief.
A report by BBC said that in one of the viral videos shared on Russian television, Powell could be heard praising Russia’s central bank chief Elvira Nabiullina for managing the country’s economy amid Western sanctions.
In another video Powell described a sharp slowdown in growth in the US, following the efforts by Fed to rein in price rises.
“We would tell you that a recession is almost as likely as very slow growth,” Powell said of expectations for 2023.
“I think that is partly because of us having raised rates quite a bit but this is what it takes to get inflation down,” the Fed chairman said.
RUSSIAN PRANK CALL THREAD w/Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell – ALL 4 RELEASED PARTS:
PART 1: The US economy, inflation & at least 2 future interest rate hikes discussed! pic.twitter.com/noIW0dQDxm
— Truth is Everything! (@_Tweets_Truth) April 27, 2023
‘No confidential information discussed’
“Chair Powell participated in a conversation in January with someone who misrepresented himself as the Ukrainian president,” a Fed spokesperson said.
“It was a friendly conversation and took place in a context of our standing in support of the Ukrainian people in this challenging time. No sensitive or confidential information was discussed,” the spokesperson further said.
The Fed spokesperson added that “the matter has been referred to appropriate law enforcement, and out of respect for their efforts, we won’t be commenting further.”
Russian pranksters who posed as Zelenskyy in call with Jerome Powell
The pranksters who posed as Zelenskyy in call with Powell were – Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, who go by the nicknames Vovan and Lexus.
The duo has for years succeeded in tricking foreign politicians into talking to them. In 2018, the UK said it believed the Kremlin was behind a hoax call to then Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.
Vovan and Lexus often post videos of their pranks with sole intention to embarrass Western policymakers. Earlier this year, they a conversation with European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde, in which they again impersonated Zelenskyy.
They also prank called former German chancellor Angela Merkel, where they pretended to be ex-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
Last year, they tricked Polish President Andrzej Duda into thinking he was on call with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
With inputs from agencies
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