The UK government has written to YouTube asking it to remove “doctored” clips of a hoax call about the war in Ukraine featuring Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.
The clips appear to show parts of a prank call on March 17 between Wallace and Russian hoaxers Vladimir “Vovan” Kuznetsov and Alexei “Lexus” Stolyarov, who were posing as representatives of Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. According to the MoD, the clips had been “modified and edited.”
“The latest Russian disinformation presented in this video creates a substantial risk to UK national security and our defence commitments to NATO and our international partners, not to mention the risk to international unity working to support Ukraine against Russia’s illegal invasion,” the MoD said in its letter to YouTube, referring to the second clip, published on March 22.
A caller can be heard in the clip saying the next-generation light antitank weapon (NLAW) “often fails,” after the UK delivered a number of them to Ukraine. Wallace appears to say the UK was “running out of our own” NLAWs, as it had given Ukraine 4,000 of them and was sending more to the war-torn country.
“As the Russian State was responsible for the hoax call, we are writing to insist you remove (or at least block) access to the videos in line with Google/YouTube policy announced on 11 March,” the letter reads.
YouTube, which is owned by Alphabet Inc.’s Google, said on March 11 that it was blocking access around the world to channels associated with Russian state-funded media, citing a policy barring content that denies, minimizes, or trivializes well-documented violent events.
The world’s most used streaming video service said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine now fell under its violent events policy, and violating material would be removed.
Lexus and Vovan, the pranksters who targeted Wallace, have previously been accused of having links to Russian security services, something they deny.
A spokesperson for 10 Downing Street said on March 22 that the UK believes the Russian state was responsible for the call, but that he was “unable to go into more detail about the information that sits behind that.”
The MoD said YouTube “will no doubt see far more Russian State disinformation,” and “understand the damage that can be caused by propaganda, mis- and disinformation.”
The MoD disputed the claims in the video, saying the UK’s NLAWs “have not failed.”
“This disinformation seeks to undermine the technical manufacturing capability of UK specialised weaponry and denigrate the UK’s reputation as a leading NATO partner and defence contributor,” the letter reads.
“Any perceived failure of our lethal aid supplied to support Ukraine will provide an immediate detrimental effect upon the morale of Ukrainian forces mounting resistance to Russian aggression and create another chapter in the Kremlin’s playbook of disinformation and lies.”
The MoD also stressed that the UK has “no supply shortages” of NLAWs.
“Information of this nature affects the UK’s ability to maintain our national defensive capability and reputation as an international and NATO ally,” the letter reads.
It added that the two “modified and edited clips have risked being used by the Russian state as a premise for more attacks outside of international law and to inflict further human rights abuses,” and said it’s “confident” YouTube would not “wish to be a conduit for Russian propaganda or be in any way associated with the potential consequences of this type of media manipulation.”
The MoD said that other content providers had already “denied the distribution of this material.”
A third clip has been published on March 23 before the MoD published its letter, appearing to show Wallace saying the UK has “always wanted [Ukraine] to join NATO.” A fourth clip was released hours later.
YouTube has not removed or blocked access to the videos by the time of publishing, nor has it responded to The Epoch Times’ request for comment.
The UK’s Home Secretary Priti Patel said she was also targeted by calls from imposters last week, and Downing Street revealed that an unsuccessful attempt was also made to contact Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries.
