UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has slammed Russia’s ‘dirty tricks’ after he was called by an imposter pretending to be Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
Posting on Twitter, Wallace said: "Today an attempt was made by an imposter claiming to be Ukrainian PM to speak with me.
"He posed several misleading questions and after becoming suspicious I terminated the call.
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"No amount of Russian disinformation, distortion and dirty tricks can distract from Russia's human rights abuses and illegal invasion of Ukraine. A desperate attempt."
The call to Wallace is not the first time Russia has used a ‘fake’ in this manner.
Yesterday, a Russian cyber attack on news channel Ukraine 24 saw a fake banner appear on the broadcast that claimed to be from the Ukrainian president, and in which he said he was ‘capitulating’ and told citizens to ‘give up arms’.
However, shortly after the hack Zelenskyy shared a clip rubbishing the claims, while adding the that ‘the only ones who should give up arms are Russian soldiers’.
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Wallace’s claims of the Russian imposter come just hours after he announced Britain would be sending a missile defence system to Poland to deter attacks from Russia.
On a visit to Warsaw, he said the UK would be deploying the Sky Sabre medium-range anti-air missile system as well as around 100 personnel.
He said the move was to ‘make sure that we stand alongside Poland in protecting her airspace from any further aggression from Russia’.
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Wallace added: “As a Nato ally and a very old ally, it is very right that Britain stands by Poland as Poland carries much of the burden of the consequence of this war and stands tall and brave to stand up to the threats from Russia.”
The announcement comes after Russia missiles struck a military base in the Ukrainian city of Yavoriv, which is just a few miles from the Polish border.
According to reports, at least 35 people were killed in the strike, including three Brits.
If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information
Claire Reid