Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell pranked by Russian duo pretending to be Zelensky

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell found himself in an unusual situation when he participated in a call with two Russian pranksters, Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, who posed as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Russian state television broadcasted the video and also posted it on Rumble, which showed Powell answering questions on a variety of topics, including inflation outlook and the Russian central bank. The footage comprised several clips lasting around 15 minutes.

In the footage, Powell addressed a series of issues, including inflation and the impact of sanctions on Western economies.

In a prank call with a fake Zelenskyy Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, admits at least 2 more upcoming interest rate hikes followed by a long period of high rates with significant negative effects on the US economy and the US labor market. https://t.co/vDb19Ed5ux

— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) April 27, 2023

The pranksters asked: “In your opinion, which countries also suffered more from recent political situations [economically]?”

“Well I would say not the United States. We have our own energy here so it’s really not us … You know better than I do, but it’s going to be … Poland and the eastern European countries that are … close to Ukraine,” Powell responded.

“We all see what’s happening, people like me just want to support you in any way we can but I have limited ways to do that in my professional job,” he added.

When the pranksters pivoted to the rising inflation rates, Powell admitted that the Fed was ready to raise the interest rates.

“Yes of course. If we need to raise our rates more, then we’ll absolutely do that. We raised rates very sharply, historically sharply last year, to get to the place we’re at now,” he said.

A Fed spokesperson confirmed on Thursday that Powell did participate in a conversation in January with someone who misrepresented themselves as the Ukrainian president.

According to the Guardian, the spokesperson insisted that no sensitive or confidential information was discussed during the friendly conversation. The matter has been referred to appropriate law enforcement, and the Fed will not comment further out of respect for their efforts. The Fed also asserted that the video appeared to have been edited and refused to confirm its accuracy.

The fact that the hoax call reached Powell is likely to raise concerns about security at the Fed. Pranksters Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, known by their nicknames Vovan and Lexus, have a history of tricking foreign politicians into talking to them using sometimes-crude impersonations.

They are known supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In 2018, the UK accused the Kremlin of being behind a hoax call to then-Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. The pranksters frequently post videos with the intent to embarrass Western policymakers, including George W. Bush, European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde, and former German chancellor Angela Merkel.

Last year, the pranksters managed to deceive Polish President Andrzej Duda into believing he was speaking to his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron.