The defence secretary of the United Kingdom (UK) Ben Wallace said that an imposter posing as the Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal made a video call to him earlier this week. Wallace has ordered a probe into the incident. He informed about the incident via a series of tweets where he said that an imposter called him and then asked him to chant slogans, according to news agency the Independent.
https://twitter.com/BWallaceMP/status/1504486044078465027?s=20&t=70dQh-7Xq7YCAGAt_mTY5g
The call lasted for more than 10 minutes but Wallace said that upon sensing the prank he immediately disconnected the call. Earlier, UK home secretary Priti Patel said that she also received a similar call. Wallace and Patel have accused Russia of being behind these calls.
“Today an attempt was made by an imposter claiming to be Ukrainian PM to speak with me. He posed several misleading questions and after becoming suspicious I terminated the call. No amount of Russian disinformation, distortion and dirty tricks can distract from Russia’s human rights abuses and illegal invasion of Ukraine. A desperate attempt,” Wallace said in a series of tweets.
Though the incidents were blamed to be caused by Russian agents, the calls being connected to top government officials in the UK raises concerns regarding the state of cybersecurity in the UK. News agency the Independent said that the call was set up after a person claiming to be an aide of the Ukrainian embassy sent an email to a government department which was then forwarded to the UK ministry of defence.
Wallace was put through on Teams after the call was set up and came face-to-face with a man virtually behind whom was a Ukrainian flag. Wallace became suspicious when the man wanted him to chant slogans and continuously questioned him on British policy. It was then that Wallace felt suspicion and disconnected the call.
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