Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell holds a news conference after the Fed raised rates of interest by 1 / 4 of a percentage point following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) on rate of interest policy in Washington, March 22, 2023.
Leah Millis | Reuters
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell spoke by phone with two Russian pranksters earlier this yr who falsely claimed to be President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine.
Video clips circulated on Russian state TV showing Powell fielding questions from two well-known pro-Kremlin comedians, Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, who use the stage names Vovan and Lexus.
“Chair Powell participated in a conversation in January with someone who misrepresented himself because the Ukrainian president,” a Fed spokesperson told CNBC on Thursday. “It was a friendly conversation and took place in a context of our standing in support of the Ukrainian people on this difficult time. No sensitive or confidential information was discussed.”
The video appears to have been edited, the Fed spokesperson said, adding that they may not confirm the video’s accuracy. “The matter has been referred to appropriate law enforcement, and out of respect for his or her efforts, we can’t be commenting further.”
Powell doesn’t appear to have said anything controversial during his call with the Zelenskyy impersonators, in line with Bloomberg, which first reported the prank.
Yet the sheer proven fact that two well-known allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin were capable of evade detection and speak to Powell directly raises serious questions on security procedures on the central bank’s Washington headquarters.
Since 2014, Vovan and Lexus have played the identical phone call prank on dozens of presidency officials and public figures all over the world, often with the apparent goal of embarrassing individuals who criticize the Kremlin.
Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has effectively raised the stakes of every of those hoaxes, nevertheless, because the U.S. and Europe have armed Ukraine’s defense forces and waged a worldwide sanctions campaign against Russia.
Following a missile explosion in Poland in November, Vovan and Lexus impersonated French President Emmanuel Macron on a prank call with Polish President Andrzej Duda.
In January, they tricked former then German Chancellor Angela Merkel into considering she was chatting with a former president of Ukraine.
Last month, the pair impersonated Zelenskyy again and spoke directly with European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde. They later released a video of the decision, during which Lagarde said a European central bank digital currency could possibly be introduced this October.
