Bloomberg: if Putin calls you, just hang up

“Why did Sir Elton John, a tireless fighter for gay rights, post a photo of the Russian President showing no sympathy for the LGBT movement on his Instagram? As it turned out, the singer was the victim of a crude telephone prank by a well-known representative of the Russian propaganda machine,” writes the columnist Bloomberg View Leonid Bershidsky.

The prankster turned out to be Vladimir Krasnov, known on social networks as “pranker Vovan.” He started pranking Russian celebrities several years ago. “After Russia annexed Crimea and supported the uprising in Eastern Ukraine, he began to claim more,” says the author of the article.

Krasnov’s assistant, Aleksey Stolyarov, deceived billionaire Igor Kolomoisky, posing as Pavel Gubarev, the leader of the pro-Russian uprising in Eastern Ukraine, the article says.

“Krasnov convinced former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili that he was Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and wanted to negotiate US sponsorship of the Ukrainian military campaign,” the journalist writes.

“Krasnov also reached Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, identifying himself as the youngest son of the ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. He received the consent of the Belarusian dictator for the Yanukovych family to move to his country,” he notes.

“These pranks were carefully planned to confuse the Kremlin’s enemies or unenthusiastic allies such as Lukashenko, and they received widespread coverage on state television and other propaganda media,” Bershidsky emphasizes.

He binds draw of Elton John with his recent visit to Kiev, where the singer participated in a forum in support of the country.

The singer calmly admitted that he had been deceived. “Pranks are fun,” he wrote on Instagram. – And homophobia is not funny at all. “I love Russia, and my offer to talk to President Putin about LGBT rights remains valid.”