Ben Wallace has blamed Russian “dirty tricks” after being pranked by someone claiming to be the Ukrainian prime minister.
In an apparent security breach, the hoax caller managed to set up a video call with the defence secretary on Thursday afternoon.
They pretended to be Ukrainian PM Denys Shmyhal and began asking Wallace a series of questions.
After realising they were not who they claimed to be, the minister ended the call and revealed the “desperate” prank attempt on Twitter.
He said: “Today an attempt was made by an imposter claiming to be Ukrainian PM to speak with me. He posed several misleading questions and after becoming suspicious I terminated the call.
“No amount of Russian disinformation, distortion and dirty tricks can distract from Russia’s human rights abuses and illegal invasion of Ukraine. A desperate attempt.”
Later on Thursday, home secretary Priti Patel said she had also been targeted.
Wallace has been an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin, claiming he had “gone full tonto” by invading Ukraine.
He also predicted that the war would be “Putin’s end” because it was going so badly for Russia.
The alarm was raised by Wallace after he became suspicious during a 10-minute video call on Thursday.
He ordered an investigation into the security breach but there are serious questions about Whitehall security after Patel said the same thing happened to her earlier this week.
“This also happened to me earlier this week,” Patel said.
“Pathetic attempt at such difficult times to divide us. We stand with Ukraine.”
The Home Office declined to give further details about Patel’s call.