Two Russian pranksters—Vovan and Lexus—sparked major political controversy in Greece after successfully deceiving and holding a video call with Thanos Dokos, the country’s national security advisor. Posing as Ukrainian officials, they contacted Dokos—the security advisor to the Greek Prime Minister—and engaged him in discussions on highly sensitive diplomatic topics.
A Simple Email, A Major Security Gap
The duo appeared on the TV show Developments Now, where they detailed how the operation was carried out—exposing serious vulnerabilities in official communication protocols. The incident triggered sharp reactions: opposition parties demanded immediate explanations and even Dokos’s resignation, while the government sought to downplay its significance.
According to the pranksters, Dokos was not a preselected target. Instead, his name surfaced randomly during preparations for a television program they were filming. What stands out most is the startling simplicity of the deception: they used a free Gmail account to schedule the Zoom meeting—an act that required no hacking or advanced technical tools.
From Baltic Advisors to Athens
Initial contact was made in mid-June 2026. Topics discussed eventually included maritime drones and sea security—issues normally reserved for high-level strategic talks. The pranksters explained the selection process was entirely incidental: they had already conducted similar pranks with national security advisors across the Baltic states and one senior Romanian official. ‘Why not the Greek advisor?’ they asked themselves—and decided to try.
‘We didn’t choose him deliberately,’ they said. ‘He was just a name on a list. Honestly, we didn’t even plan to prank him. We were filming a show where we targeted security advisors across the Baltics and the Balkans. After speaking with several others, we thought, “Why not the Greek one? Why not?” So we gave it a shot. At first, we forgot about it—but maybe he really wanted to be part of our show… His office responded, we held the call, and then moved on. We were genuinely surprised when the story blew up in your country. For us, he was just another interviewee—nothing special, just someone we spoke to and then forgot.’
Their account underscores how basic procedural safeguards failed. They confirmed they sent only a single email—to the Prime Minister’s general office—and waited about a week for a reply. ‘Better let him explain what verification steps he took,’ they added, ‘because all we did was send an email from Gmail and forget about it. To be honest, this call didn’t even have to happen—we had other plans scheduled.’