Polish President Duda was tricked into sharing hightly sensitive information with some Russian pranksters who disguised themselves as French President Macron.
Polish President Duda began talking to the pranksters thinking he was talking to French President Macron.
The incident was reported by SFGate:
Russian comedians pretending to be the French president tricked the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, into giving them sensitive information after a missile exploded in eastern Poland last week.
Duda’s office confirmed on Tuesday that he was put through last week to a person claiming to be France’s President Emmanuel Macron.
Duda’s office said it was one of many international calls that the president received at a tense time on Nov. 15, just after a missile hit in eastern Poland, close to the border with Ukraine, killing two men. NATO and Poland’s leaders have said the missile most likely came from a Ukrainian air defense system that fired in response to a barrage of Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
In the new recording posted on YouTube by Russian pranksters Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, known as Vovan and Lexus, Duda can be heard thanking a man whom he believes to be Macron for calling.
Speaking in English, Duda relays details of the missile incident, of his plans to request NATO consultations and of being very careful not to exacerbate the situation with Russia, which invaded neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24.
On the call, Duda thanked “Macron” for calling and then discussed the attack on Poland earlier that day. Duda says, “That was probably Russian missiles” when discussing the events that day.
Duda goes on to state that he talked with Biden and Biden didn’t believe it was Russia who was behind the missile. Duda then went on to state that Ukrainian President Zelinsky was “absolutely sure it was Russian missiles.” Zelinsky also shared with Duda that there was no possibility that it was launched by Ukrainians.
Duda goes on to explain that he doesn’t want to have war with Russia. He then confirms that his Minister of Foreign Affairs confirmed it was a Russian missile. The missile was produced in Russia but both sides have missiles produced in Russia.
The AP initially reported that the missile was Russian but then hours later retracted their report and claimed the missile was from Ukraine.
[Editor’s note: In earlier versions of a story published Nov. 15, 2022, The Associated Press reported erroneously, based on information from a senior American intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity, that Russian missiles had crossed into Poland and killed two people. Subsequent reporting showed that the missiles were Russian-made and most likely fired by Ukraine in defense against a Russian attack. AP retracted the article.]
The caption to the video placed on YouTube hours ago says:
Vovan and Lexus reached Andrzej Duda at night when he was talking with NATO leaders about the situation regarding Ukrainian missile that fell in Poland. A call was made on behalf of French President Macron.
Russian pranksters Vovan and Lexus have already pranked the President of Poland in July 2020, calling him on behalf of the UN Secretary General and congratulating him on his election victory.
See the video below: