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Footage has emerged of Defence Secretary Ben Wallace being duped into speaking by phone to an impostor posing as the Ukrainian prime minister.

An ‘official teaser’ of the prank appeared on a YouTube account hours after Britain blamed Vladimir Putin’s Russia for several hoaxes targeting government ministers in the hope of securing sensitive or embarrassing information.

The video, billed as ‘Part 1’ claimed the stunt was orchestrated by ‘Vovan and Lexus’ – a pair previously attributed to a hoax aimed at the Duke of Sussex.

The footage begins with dramatic shots of London to the sound of army band music. A woman at the defence ministry can then be heard putting the imposter through to Mr Wallace, who takes the video call from a car in Poland.

The caller, purporting to be Ukraine’s PM Denys Shmyhal, says Ukraine wants to continue a ‘nuclear programme’ to protect itself from Russia – a claim Russian state media has baselessly purported in the past.

Mr Wallace is shown to reply saying ‘Russia would really hate that’.

He then adds: ‘I need to speak to my prime minister..the principle is we will support Ukraine as our friend in the choices you make’.

Mr Wallace hit back by on Twitter saying the invasion of Ukraine ‘must be going so badly for the Kremlin’ as it resorted to releasing ‘video fakes’.

His tweet carried a picture of the two Russian intelligence officers, Anatoliy Chepiga and Alexander Mishkin, who unsuccessfully attempted to poison former KGB spy and defector Sergei Skripal in a bungled operation.

He also noted that Russia had not released the section of the call where he says he criticised Putin for the invasion and illegal annexation of Crimea, telling the Telegraph: ‘They won’t have put in where I stood up for the free press.’

A Ministry of Defence source said the video was ‘garbage’, adding: ‘It’s a doctored clip.

‘What you don’t hear is the Defence Secretary also saying that the UK can’t have anything to do with alleged Ukrainian nuclear ambitions, because the UK is committed to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.’

Mr Wallace did not appear to say anything particularly embarrassing or alarming in the video, but it did tout a ‘full interview’ within ‘a few days’.

It was understood discussions were under way with YouTube to get the video removed.

Lexus and Vovan have previously targeted Sir Elton John, a vocal critic of Russia’s ‘gay propaganda’ laws, and world leaders including Canada’s Justin Trudeau.

Critics have accused the pair of having links to Russian security services, something they deny.

Mr Wallace said at the time of the incident last week he believed Russia was to blame and Downing Street has now publicly pointed the finger at the Kremlin.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘The Russian state was responsible for the hoax telephone calls made to UK ministers last week.

‘This is standard practice for Russian information operations and disinformation is a tactic straight from the Kremlin playbook to try to distract from their illegal activities in Ukraine and the human rights abuses being committed there.

‘We are seeing a string of distraction stories and outright lies from the Kremlin, reflecting Putin’s desperation as he seeks to hide the scale of the conflict and Russia’s failings on the battlefield.’

Senior Government sources fear the Russians may attempt to doctor footage obtained in the calls in an attempt to embarrass the UK.

Mr Wallace publicly acknowledged he had been targeted shortly after his call on Thursday in an attempt to get ahead of any attempt by Moscow to circulate footage from it.

He also launched a cross-Whitehall investigation to understand how he ended up on the video call.

Home Secretary Priti Patel has also acknowledged having spoken to imposters posing as the Ukrainian prime minister, while an unsuccessful attempt was also made to target Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries.

Meanwhile on Monday, Boris Johnson hinted at more military support to Ukraine following a call with Joe Biden and other allies.

Downing Street said the leaders – also including France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Olaf Scholz and Italy’s Mario Draghi – affirmed their commitment to ‘equipping the democratically-elected government in Kyiv with the tools it needs to defend itself’.

The Prime Minister discussed his ‘horror’ at the Russian president’s use of ‘increasingly brutal tactics’ in Ukraine, including siege warfare and targeting civilians.

In further developments, officials in Ukraine, officials rejected a Russian demand for the port city of Mariupol to surrender as the bombardment of population centres across the country continued.

In the capital Kyiv a shopping centre was hit on Sunday, killing eight people, while ammonia leaked from a chemical plant in north-eastern Ukraine after it was shelled.

According to the latest MoD assessment, the Russian advance on Kyiv remains stalled in the face of determined Ukrainian resistance, with the bulk of Moscow’s forces still more than 15 miles from the centre.

Nevertheless, analysts believe the capital is still the Kremlin’s main military objective, although it is thought the Russians will try to force it into submission through encirclement rather than attempting a direct assault.

The UN’s refugee agency said around 3.5 million people had fled Ukraine since the February 24 invasion while millions more are still in the country but have been forced out of their homes.

Some 10,200 visas have been issued under the Ukraine family scheme as of 4pm on Sunday, the Home Office said.

A total of 31,500 applications have been submitted so far, according to provisional data published on the department’s website.

Around 150,000 people have expressed an interest in hosting refugees through the Homes for Ukraine programme.

Russia-Ukraine war: Everything you need to know

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, the country has suffered widespread damages and loss of life amid a major bombing campaign.

Millions of people have fled, as Ukrainian cities face shortages of food, water, heat, and medicine – with thousands of British people opening up their homes to Ukrainian refugees.

And Russian President Vladimir Putin hasn’t shown any signs of calling off the attack anytime soon, despite reports that he is ‘growing paranoid’.

• Huge explosion hits Kyiv shopping centre with bodies pulled from rubble
• Ukraine rejects Russia’s demand to surrender Mariupol and lay down arms
• Mariupol residents ‘deported to Russia’ as Ukrainian city handed ultimatum
• Ukraine’s President Zelensky calls for ‘meaningful conversations’ with Russia
• Ukraine says 112 children killed and even more wounded in war
• Putin bombs art school sheltering 400 people in latest sick attack
• How social media messes with our empathy and pushes us to make the war in Ukraine all about ourselves
• How to house a Ukrainian refugee or family
• Where to buy a Ukraine ribbon pin

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