Vovan and Lexus’ channel has been shut down for violating the platform’s community guidelines
Notorious Russian pranksters Vovan and Lexus, whose latest targets were UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and Home Secretary Priti Patel, saw their channel removed by YouTube on Saturday.
The duo shared on social media the message they had received from YouTube, citing unspecified violations of community guidelines.
“Channels responsible for serious breaches are being removed in order to keep the platform safe for all users,” it read in Russian.
“Sadly, everything has been deleted,” Vovan confirmed to the Russian newspaper Izvestia, claiming the ban was another example of anti-Russian censorship on the part of the UK. He said he and Lexus had already moved their content to other social media platforms and messenger apps.
Earlier this week, the British Defense Ministry demanded YouTube remove all videos of Wallace’s call with the pranksters, in which they had impersonated Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
The ministry claimed “the Russian state” was responsible for the hoax call. It said it had posed a threat to UK national security, and the defense secretary’s words had been “modified and edited” to show him saying something he had never said.
Vovan and Lexus, whose real names are Vladimir Kuznetsov and Aleksey Stolyarov, have on several prior occasions been accused of working with the Kremlin. They have always denied such speculations.
In the video of the call published by the pranksters, the unsuspecting Wallace was asked if London would be willing to help Kiev restart its military nuclear program. He responded, “Russia will really hate it,” and assured the caller that “the principle is [this]: we will support Ukraine as our friend in the choices you make.”
He allegedly added that the British military was running out of man-maneuvered anti-tank missiles due to having supplied too many of them to Ukraine amid its conflict with Russia.
Patel was also tricked by Vovan and Lexus, telling them those in power in Russia were “barbarians,” and promising the Home Office would step up its spying on Russian nationals in the UK.
Kuznetsov and Stolyarov have had a presence on YouTube for years, pranking numerous high-profile politicians and celebrities during that time, including Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the then-Democratic vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris, Prince Harry, and Elton John.
RT (Russia Today) is a state-owned news organization funded by the Russian government. The information provided by this news source is being included by the Libertarian Hub not as an endorsement of the Russian government, but rather because it is being actively censored by Big Tech, Western governments and the corporate press. During times of conflict it is imperative that we have access to both sides of the story so we can form our own opinions, even if both sides are spewing their own propaganda. The censorship of RT, despite likely being a propaganda outfit for the Russian government, reduces our ability to hear one side of the conflict. For that reason, the Libertarian Hub will temporarily republish the RSS feed from RT. Visit https://rt.com
