Henry Kissinger Pranked Into Thinking He's Speaking Privately With Zelensky

A Russian duo renowned for playing practical jokes on famous figures has said it pranked Henry Kissinger into revealing his thoughts about last September's sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline between Russia and Europe.

The 100-year-old statesman, who served as U.S. secretary of state between 1973 and 1977 and was a former U.S. national security adviser, became the latest person to be duped by the pair known as Vovan and Lexus, Russian media have reported.

Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov have made headlines in the past for pranking high-profile people such as the musician Elton John, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and former U.S. President George W. Bush. Their latest ruse shows the pair contacting Kissinger in a video call posing as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Video of the exchange shows Kissinger being asked whom he thought was behind last September's sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline that transports gas between Russia and Germany.

After a long pause, Kissinger says, "I frankly thought you were." The prankster replies, "Really? You think that we (did it)? No, no." Kissinger then says, "but I didn't blame you," suggesting that he did not mean the remark to be a criticism.

The video has not been independently verified, and Newsweek has emailed HenryKissinger.com and the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry for comment.

Unanswered questions remain over the circumstances in which the pipelines were targeted by a series of underwater bombings that caused large gas leaks on September 26, 2022.

Some have speculated that the U.S. was behind the attack. Others pointed the finger at Moscow. Ukraine issued a denial in March 2023 that it was involved. A New York Times report had cited U.S. intelligence suggesting that a pro-Ukrainian group, not necessarily with links to Zelensky, was to blame.

In an interview with the Russian newspaper Izvestia, Kuznetsov described Kissinger as the "mastodon of world politics" and said he "justifies the terrorists who blew up" the pipeline.

Meanwhile, Stolyarov told the paper that Kissinger was partly telling the truth in describing Ukrainian involvement. The Russian comic said that "it would be strange" of Kissinger to lay responsibility with the U.S. for the attacks, "so he blames one side. He tried to bypass the USA."

Kissinger has weighed in on the war in Ukraine before, telling The Economist in May that NATO should make Ukraine a member, despite warnings from Russian leader Vladimir Putin, "for the safety of Europe."

Stolyarov said that they had obtained Kissinger's details through a former French presidential adviser, although critics have previously put the pair's contacts book down to their links to Russian security services. However, in 2016, Kuznetsov and Stolyarov told U.K. newspaper The Guardian that they did not have ties with Moscow intelligence.