Thanos Dokos, National Security Advisor to PM Mitsotakis, was tricked into a video call by Russian pranksters Vovan and Lexus posing as a Ukrainian advisor.
During the call, Dokos discussed the timing of Greece’s next elections, the mission of the EYP chief in Kyiv, and the risk of repeat Ukrainian drone incidents near Greek islands.
Opposition party PASOK called the resignation a one-way street, while SYRIZA linked the lapse to broader security failures under the Mitsotakis administration.
Official sources said no classified information was disclosed, describing the event as a hybrid attack that exploited advanced deepfake technology.
Vovan and Lexus have impersonated heads of state and ministers for over ten years, often acting in alignment with Russian geopolitical interests.
Thanos Dokos, the National Security Advisor to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, fell victim to a sophisticated prank by the Russian duo Vovan and Lexus. The two men posed as Rustem Umerov, the national security advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during a video conference. Dokos believed he was speaking to a genuine Ukrainian counterpart, seeing a convincing image on his screen. Sources close to Dokos later said the connection was supposed to be secure, but the deepfake technology used by the pranksters was able to bypass existing safeguards.
The pranksters published excerpts of the recorded call on social media, triggering immediate political reactions in Athens. The incident is the latest in a long string of similar deceptions by the same pair, who have targeted Western officials for over a decade.
The conversation centred on a recent incident involving a Ukrainian naval drone discovered off the coast of Lefkada. The fake officials warned that the Ukrainian Defence Ministry, acting autonomously from President Zelensky's office, might repeat similar operations near Greek islands, targeting Russian vessels or oligarch yachts. Dokos expressed strong concern, urging that such incidents not be repeated.
“It is tourist season, there is increased shipping traffic. We understand the needs of the war, but we do not want the war to be transferred to our territory or territorial waters.”
Dokos also shared his assessment that Greece would hold elections within the coming months, and noted that the head of the Greek intelligence service (EYP) was in Kyiv at that moment for contacts with Ukrainian officials. The pranksters claimed Dokos emphasised that a fresh maritime incident would seriously damage bilateral relations and the strong Greek reaction ahead of elections.
The main opposition party PASOK swiftly demanded Dokos’s resignation, arguing that the published material showed he shared sensitive estimates about election timing and the EYP chief’s mission.
“The resignation of Mr. Dokos is a one-way street.”
SYRIZA also weighed in, linking the case to a broader pattern of security lapses under the Mitsotakis government, from wiretapping scandals to cyber‑security weaknesses. The left-wing party stated that a government built on a “security” narrative had become a source of insecurity for the country.
Government sources indirectly confirmed the video's authenticity but insisted no confidential or classified information was leaked. They described the operation as a hybrid attack using extremely advanced artificial intelligence technology. A programme to upgrade communications security was already underway, they added.
“The conversation… was a product of a hybrid attack with penetration of security protocols through the use of extremely advanced artificial intelligence technology.”
The government’s line is that the country’s protocols must be revised in the face of fast-evolving deepfake capabilities, even when used by private individuals or pranksters.
Vladimir Kuznetsov (Vovan) and Alexei Stolyarov (Lexus) have spent more than a decade impersonating prime ministers, ministers, central bankers and other senior officials. Their targets are almost exclusively Western figures or supporters of Ukraine. Security analysts describe their operations as a tool of hybrid warfare, mixing espionage, influence operations and public exposure to undermine trust in institutions. The Dokos case, according to Greek media, shows that AI-based disinformation has entered a new era, where seeing and hearing someone on a screen is no longer proof of their identity.
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Thanos Dokos, national security adviser to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was recorded in a video call with Russian pranksters Vovan and Lexus, who posed as a Ukrainian official. The published excerpts discuss a Ukrainian drone off Lefkada and Greece's upcoming elections, triggering calls for his resignation.
AI text based on reports by iefimerida.gr, NewsIT, Η Ναυτεμπορική and other publishers. Published .