The U.K. said Monday that Russia made hoax calls to three cabinet ministers last week, calling it "a tactic straight from the Kremlin play book," Bloomberg reports.
Both Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and Home Secretary Priti Patel said last week they'd received calls by imposters posing as Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
Tweeting about the incident, Wallace called it "a desperate attempt," and said, "No amount of Russian disinformation, distortion, and dirty tricks can distract from Russia's human rights abuses and illegal invasion of Ukraine."
Wallace spoke with the imposter via video call for approximately 10 minutes, Sky News reports.
The man had used falsified details from the Ukrainian embassy to appear authentic, according to Sky, and a Ukrainian flag had been positioned behind him.
Wallace became suspicious when the imposter's questions became more "wild," a defense source told Sky, and the call was promptly ended.
Echoing Wallace on Twitter, Patel said she also received a hoax call.
"This also happened to me earlier this week," she said. "Pathetic attempt at such difficult times to divide us. We stand with Ukraine."
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman, Max Blain, told reporters on Monday that a "similar attempt" was made to reach Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries but was unsuccessful.
"This is standard practice for Russian information operations, and disinformation is a tactic straight from the Kremlin play book to try and distract from their illegal activities in Ukraine and the human rights abuses being committed there," Blain said. "This is something that the Russian state tries repeatedly. It won't be the last attempt, for sure."
According to Sky, the defense ministry arranged the call after being forwarded details from another government department.
It is unclear how the imposter was able to convince defense officials that he was the real Ukrainian prime minister.
Sky reports that an inquiry about the incidents has been opened.
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