Three days after the publication of the prank carried out by Russian comedians Vovan and Lexus—whose target was Greece’s National Security Advisor, Thanos Dokos—an exlusive on MEGA has brought new details to light, raising a series of questions about how the Greek side handled a video call request allegedly made by Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov to the prime minister’s advisor.
The Russian pranksters spoke exclusively to journalist Anastasia Yamali, presenting their own version of how the communication took place and challenging Dokos’ claim that the incident amounted to a “hybrid attack” involving artificial intelligence technology. According to them, the entire interaction was arranged through a simple Gmail account.
According to the same account, on June 18 an email was sent to the official address of the prime minister’s advisor initiating the request.
“We just sent an email from Gmail to the prime minister’s security office and then forgot about it. We suggested speaking via Zoom, and he agreed,” they said.
A series of follow-up emails followed, stating that the topic of discussion would be maritime drones. The Greek side reportedly expressed confusion over the request, given that Dokos and Umerov had recently met in Brussels during a summit. The pranksters replied that the Ukrainian official wished to continue the discussion.
“We didn’t choose him specifically, his name was just one a list, we didn’t want to prank him, honestly. We were doing our TV show where we prank different security advisors around the Baltic and Balkan states. And we thought, why don’t we call Greece’s national security advisor and we said let’s try.”
Eventually, they claim, the meeting was scheduled using only Zoom login credentials as the security layer.
On Friday, in a public interview after the incident, Dokos stated that all security protocols had been followed for the communication and that when he opened his computer for the video call, he saw his Ukrainian counterpart on screen—implying that the figure he was seeing was generated by artificial intelligence.
“We were very surprised of the proportions it took in your country. Because he was one of our simple participants, nothing special,” the duo said.
“We only used a bit of makeup, not AI”
For their part, the pranksters insist that the person posing as Umerov simply used makeup and appeared using his own voice while impersonating Ukraine’s security advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“We only used a bit of makeup, not AI. This didn’t happen only to him—we have a lot of experience with makeup for these kinds of disguises. And really, why would we do something like this to someone we don’t even know?” they said.
The Russian pranksters deny claims that they act as agents of Russian intelligence services, despite having been honored by the Kremlin for their services to the country with the prestigious Order of Friendship. According to the Russian side, the award was given for strengthening peace, friendship, and mutual understanding between peoples—though, given their pranks, that outcome appears questionable.
“I can only feel sorry for the Greek National Security Advisor if he thinks that just a little make-up is a special tool against Greece.” they said.
Opposition parties are insisting on the removal of Thanos Dokos from his position. From the government camp, it is being stated that a process to upgrade communication security protocols has already begun.
