UK's Senior Cabinet Ministers receive hoax calls from imposter claiming to be Zelenskyy

UK accused Russia of playing "dirty tricks" after the country's senior Cabinet ministers received bogus phone calls from an imposter impersonating Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. On March 17, Home Secretary Priti Patel and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace were targeted by hoax calls purporting to be from President Zelenskyy. Following that, a cross-Whitehall security investigation was initiated, according to UK media reports.

After reporting that a person had called him earlier pretending to be Ukraine's Prime Minister, Denys Shmyhal, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace blamed Russia for using "dirty tricks." He grew suspicious and disconnected the call after the "imposter" asked several "misleading questions," Wallace expressed.

Priti Patel, the UK's Home Secretary, subsequently tweeted that she had a similar call earlier in the week. Patel, who said that the same thing happened to her last week, has raised major concerns about Whitehall security. "This also happened to me earlier this week. Pathetic attempt at such difficult times to divide us. We stand with Ukraine," Patel tweeted.

Citing a defence source, BBC reported that during the call, Wallace was asked about North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the state of the negotiations taking place between Ukraine and Russia. The source further told BBC that Wallace was apparently asked about whether the UK would send warships to the Black Sea, and if Ukraine should get nuclear weapons.

The defence secretary was also asked about the prospect of Ukraine dropping its ambition to join NATO and becoming a "neutral" state. The defence source added that Wallace was asked misleading questions to encourage inappropriate comments but he didn't say anything that was not factual or appropriate, BBC reported.

Russia-Ukraine War

As world leaders pressed for an investigation into the Kremlin's repeated airstrikes on civilian targets including schools, hospitals, and residential areas, Russian forces launched further missile strikes and shelling on the capital city of Kyiv and the suburbs of the western city of Lviv on Friday.

Moreover, as the battle approached its fourth week, the US expressed fear that China would provide military weapons to Moscow. US President Joe Biden is likely to phone China's President Xi Jinping on Friday evening and warn Beijing that supporting Russia's military operations in Ukraine will cost it terribly.

Image: AP