Russian state behind hoax calls claiming to be Ukrainian PM to British ministers, Downing Street says

• The Russian state was behind hoax calls to UK ministers, Downing Street says.
• The defence secretary and home secretary spoke with a man claiming to be the Ukrainian prime minister.
• The British government believes doctored snippets of the calls could be released by the Kremlin.

Hoax calls to British ministers were the work of the Kremlin in an attempt to "distract and spread misinformation", Downing Street has said. 

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Home Secretary Priti Patel both spoke with a man claiming to be the Ukrainian Prime Minister last week.

The UK government believes the Kremlin could release doctored snippets from the calls with Wallace and Patel in order to support Russian narratives.

 

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries was also targeted but did not speak with the hoax callers, Downing Street said.

"The Russian state was responsible for the hoax telephone calls made to UK ministers last week. This is standard practice for Russian information operations and disinformation is a tactic straight from the Kremlin playbook, to try and distract from the illegal activities in Ukraine and human rights abuses being committed there," the Prime Minister's spokesperson said.

"We are seeing a string of distraction stories and outright lies from the Kremlin reflecting Putin's desperation to seek to hide the scale of the conflict and Russia's failing on the battlefield."

There is an ongoing inquiry into the hoax calls, the spokesperson said.