Italian Prime Minister Fooled by Russian YouTuber's Prank Call Saying "Tired of the Ukraine War"

Russian YouTuber Releases Call Recording with Meloni
Meloni "Finding an Exit Strategy Is Important"

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni revealed her exhaustion with the ongoing Ukraine war, which has lasted 20 months, after being tricked by a Russian YouTuber impersonating an African diplomat in a prank call.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to local Italian media on the 1st (local time), Russian YouTubers Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov released a 15-minute recording of their online call with Prime Minister Meloni on the same day.

In the call recording, Prime Minister Meloni said, "I see many people are tired," expressing that European leaders are weary of the Ukraine war. She added, "To tell the truth, perhaps we are approaching a moment when everyone understands the need for an escape route," and said, "The problem is finding an exit that both sides can accept without violating international law."

Prime Minister Meloni also revealed that Italy has accepted 120,000 African immigrants this year. However, she expressed dissatisfaction that the other European Union (EU) countries do not pay attention to this.

The Italian Prime Minister's Office issued a statement on the same day acknowledging that Meloni had the call on September 18. The office stated, "We regret that the Prime Minister was deceived."

The two YouTubers who successfully tricked Prime Minister Meloni had previously attempted similar prank calls with former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an. It appears that the Russian government agencies provided significant assistance behind the scenes, enabling the two Russian YouTubers to repeatedly succeed in calls with world leaders.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.