The case of Thanos Dokos caused political noise in Athens and opened a debate on government security protocols. The Secretary General of National Security believed he was speaking via video call with a high-ranking Ukrainian official. In reality, he was facing the Russian pranksters Vovan and Lexus, who recorded the conversation and subsequently made it public, causing political turmoil and exposing the top national security advisor of the Greek government. Dokos indeed suffered a severe blow to his credibility and ought to have submitted his resignation if he possessed even a shred of dignity.
This is because he is the top national security advisor of the Greek government... Nevertheless, he is neither the first nor—likely—the last high-ranking official to fall into the trap of this specific duo. Vovan (Vladimir Kuznetsov) and Lexus (Alexey Stolyarov) have been active for more than a decade, pretending to be presidents, prime ministers, ministers, or top diplomats, aiming to extract statements from politicians and then leverage them for communication purposes. Their actions have repeatedly caused concern to Western security services, which consider that their operations serve Russian influence and propaganda. It is no coincidence that in 2024 they were honored by the Kremlin with the "Order of Friendship" medal.
The leaders who have fallen into their trap
The list of victims is impressive and includes dozens of figures from the international political scene. Among others, they have deceived (confirmed incidents): Giorgia Meloni – Prime Minister of Italy (2023). They called her pretending to be an African Union official and extracted statements about the war in Ukraine. Ben Wallace – former UK Defense Secretary (2022). They called him pretending to be Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and discussed defense and war issues. David Cameron – former UK Foreign Secretary (2024). He became their target when they convinced him that he was speaking with a former Ukrainian official. Recep Tayyip Erdogan – President of Turkey (2016). The pranksters appeared as Petro Poroshenko and spoke with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, discussing Russia and the situation in Syria. Elton John – the British singer (2015).
They made him believe he was speaking with Vladimir Putin about LGBTQ+ rights in Russia. The real Putin contacted him later to assure him that he had nothing to do with the prank. Prince Harry – they approached him pretending to be activist Greta Thunberg and her father. J.K. Rowling – the author of Harry Potter, in a prank where they portrayed Ukrainian officials. Christine Lagarde – President of the European Central Bank, in a conversation where they counterfeited Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Vitali Klitschko – Mayor of Kyiv, whom they had approached in the past pretending to be another official. Lindsey Graham – US Senator, whom they deceived by pretending to be Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar. as well as a series of US Representatives and European officials.
Not even celebrities escaped
The duo does not limit itself to politics. Their victims also include Prince Harry, whom they approached pretending to be Greta Thunberg, as well as Elton John, whom they convinced was speaking with Vladimir Putin. Back then, it even required the Russian President himself to later contact the famous singer.
The Greek blunder
In the Greek case, the essence is not only that Thanos Dokos was deceived. The most serious issue concerns the fact that a person with access to the core of national security participated in a conversation without the necessary verification of the interlocutor's identity having taken place beforehand. In other words, the absolute fiasco. The individuals simply sent a... Gmail.
BN's exclusive report on Thanos Dokos that caused a political earthquake (Friday 03/07/2026):
The conversation of Thanos Dokos with Russian pranksters came to light after the revealing report by BN on July 2 under the title "Inconceivable - Russian pranksters disgraced Mitsotakis's advisor Thanos Dokos: 'We will lose the elections because of Ukrainian drones'". Specifically, as we revealed yesterday 2/7, the National Security advisor to Kyriakos Mitsotakis not only revealed the holding of elections within a few months, but also threatened with... the cessation of Greek support to Ukraine while speaking to Russian pranksters who called him pretending to be his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov, according to a report by the Tass agency on July 1. Indeed, Mr. Dokos characterized the Ukrainian drones that threaten Greek shores as... a political problem for ND, ahead of the national elections, which, as he claimed, will "be held in a few months from today".
"The incident I mentioned earlier [meaning the Ukrainian naval drone in Lefkada] will create very serious problems for the Greek government. Our reaction, if such an incident occurs, will be very harsh," noted the advisor to Kyriakos Mitsotakis, without realizing that on the other end of the phone line were... Russian pranksters. "He, the Ukrainian Minister of Defense, must decide whether causing damage to a Russian ship is worth the loss of Greece's support," Mr. Dokos subsequently emphasized in a clearly threatening tone. It appears that the notorious Russian pranksters Vovan and Lexus caught... a big fish pretending to be the Secretary of the Security Council of Ukraine Rustem Umerov, but they also demolished a myth that has long haunted reality in Greek politics: the narrative that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis selects top advisors to his side...
The Secretary of the National Security Council of Ukraine Rustem Umerov whom... the Russian pranksters portrayed
"Another drone in the Mediterranean and Greek aid to Ukraine will end" The reason is Thanos Dokos, national security advisor to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who revealed that another potential incident involving a Ukrainian drone in Greek waters could deprive Kyiv of Athens's support, as... he stated in his conversation with the Russian pranksters Vovan and Lexus. The notorious Vovan and Lexus spoke with the Greek politician on behalf of the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC), Rustem Umerov.
"It is the tourist season now and shipping traffic has increased. It is important, of course, to understand the necessities of war from your side. Let us make every effort to prevent the recurrence of such incidents," Thanos Dokos explained.
"He, the Ukrainian Minister of Defense, must decide whether causing damage to a Russian ship is worth the loss of Greece's support," underscored the Maximos Mansion official.
Inconceivable admission by Dokos: "We have elections in a few months and your drones... create a political problem"
Furthermore, Mr. Dokos revealed that in a few months elections will be held in Greece. "And the incident I mentioned earlier will create very serious problems for the Greek government. Our reaction, if such an incident occurs, will be very harsh," he noted. "Let me warn those who are planning such an act. These are very busy waters. Any problem, any incident that also affects maritime safety and tourism will cause significant problems in our bilateral relations," added Thanos Dokos.
The national security advisor to the Greek Prime Minister recognized that Athens "understands the necessity of war," but does not want it to be transferred to Greek territory.
"I think this could cause a very serious and unnecessary crisis between our countries," he concluded.
The uproar over the statements regarding co-exploitation and the partial... resignation of Thanos Dokos
It is pointed out that Thanos Dokos caused an uproar and placed his resignation at the disposal of the prime minister in April 2020, following his statement regarding co-exploitation in the Aegean with Turkey. Later, he engaged in an attempt at... damage control, emphasizing that this was a personal opinion.
"My resignation is always at the disposal of the prime minister. My mistake was that I opened an issue that was untimely, purely hypothetical, at a moment when we have too many issues that are hot and ongoing," Mr. Dokos stated to Realfm, later providing clarifications on what he said about co-exploitation in the Aegean.
"If it is considered that I created a problem, the resignation is a given," he added at the time.
"If we find deposits... we will proceed to co-exploitation with Turkey"
"Provided that significant deposits are discovered in the Aegean or (most likely) in the Eastern Mediterranean, provided that the deposit extends into the maritime zones of both countries (the case of Qatar-Iran), provided that the quantity, price, and trends of moving away from fossil fuels permit the commercial exploitation of the deposit and, finally, provided that Greece decides that this is to its advantage, then it could negotiate a co-exploitation agreement with percentages to be determined according to the agreed maritime borders," he said to the Cypriot newspaper. Speaking then to a radio station, Mr. Dokos underlined that "it is not a new statement," but added that he made two mistakes. "The first because habit becomes second nature and because for 20 years I expressed personal opinions as a professor at ELIAMEP, I made the mistake of considering that this applies to a certain extent. The second mistake was that I used a hypothetical and extreme scenario to say something simple: if Turkey changes its behavior, we can become normal neighbors," explained Mr. Dokos.
"This is a purely personal opinion which some took as the position of the prime minister and the government. It is not so," he added, and explaining why he characterized the scenario he referred to as extreme, he said: "Neither does Turkey show a disposition to change behavior. In order to discuss co-exploitation, there must be a subject matter, something must have been found. The probabilities of this scenario being used are very low, I wrongly used it". Analyzing how co-exploitation could occur, Mr. Dokos said that "first we would make a settlement in an international court and if by any chance something was found we could sit down to talk about co-exploitation based on percentages. All these presuppose that we have gone to The Hague or we have agreed on the delimitation of exclusive economic zones. We are neither close to The Hague nor has anything been found. If both one and the other happen, we will discuss it".
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