Russian prankster Vladimir Kuznetsov (Vovan) stated that YouTube blocked Vovan & Lexus' channel. He said that the reason behind this could have been their latest prank call to former US President George W. Bush.
He said that the channel was created after the previous one was deleted about a month before.
"Apparently, no one really knew about this one [their backup channel], and when they found out about it, they decided to ban it also without explanation, they simply wrote that it was violating some rules", Kuznetsov said. "Maybe it happened because of the prank with Bush, because we just posted the original in English and it was watched a lot on YouTube by the English-speaking audience. Maybe it was deleted just because of this, because of Bush. Quite possible". He said that the channel was created after the previous one was deleted about a month before. Евгений Михайлов, Сегодня в 15:25
The record of their conversation was published back in May. The pranksters pretended to be Ukrainian President Zelensky, and talked to Bush and his aides for around 40 minutes, asking him a range of questions.
Russian pranksters (L-R) Vladimir "Vovan" Kuznetsov, 30, and Alexei "Lexus" Stolyarov, 28, speak during an interview with AFP at a bar in Moscow, on March 14, 2016
© AFP 2023 / YURI KADOBNOV
On the call, Bush confirmed that he did not want to let Russia join NATO, but wanted to see Ukraine in the alliance. He also stated that the West is waging a war against Russia in Ukraine, saying that Kiev should eliminate as many Russian soldiers as possible and vowing to support the Ukrainian military.
Previously, YouTube blocked Vovan and Lexus's original channel after the pair published their interview with UK Defence Minister Ben Wallace and Home Office Secretary Priti Patel.