The russian foreign ministry played a prank on April 1 – in both Russian and English – by posting a recorded message on all its verified social media accounts. They said it was a “pilot” recording for use as an automated response in all Russian embassies and consulates. It’s not. It’s an April Fools’ joke.
April Fools’ Moscow-style
It all sounds very official and normal as it starts off, with a voice asking the caller to choose from various options. However those options are to choose which method you choose to have the Russians meddle with your election.
The message brings in virtually every aspect of the ongoing Russian “scandal” including various contacts made by President Donald Trump’s aides and Moscow. The first option tells you, if you wish to arrange a call from a Russian diplomat, you must press one. The other options include number two, where you can request the services of Russian hackers, and number three, the option to choose if you want to request interference in an election. With that option you also get the message to then wait until the next election campaign begins.
Russian scandal continues
As reported by Deutsche Welle, the ongoing scandal started during last year’s U.S. presidential election, by talking about the collusion of Russia and Trump against fellow candidate Hillary Clinton.
However, Moscow has from the beginning denied any interference in the election and continues to deny any connection. Despite that fact, several U.S. officials have been the target of accusations involving illegal dealings with Russian diplomats. Also, many observers believe the reason Trump won the election was because Russian hackers obtained damaging information about Clinton and her campaign in an effort to help him.
Министерство иностранных дел России разработало пилотную аудиозапись автоответчика для российских дипломатических миссий за рубежом pic.twitter.com/eLl8Jgcgzt
— МИД России 🇷🇺 (@MID_RF) April 1, 2017
Moscow confirmed the prank
According to a report by the New York Daily News, a Russian ministry duty officer later confirmed to the Associated Press that the post on Facebook and Twitter was officially an April Fools’ joke.
In line with normal official practice, reportedly the officer did not give his name. The prank came shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin officially denied any interference in the U.S. election. On Thursday Putin reportedly responded to allegations that Moscow ran a campaign to help Trump defeat Hillary Clinton by saying the words “Watch my lips – No.”
