WATCH: US Fed chair Jerome Powell pranked by Russian impersonators posing as Zelensky

The head of the US central bank, Jerome Powell, was the subject of two Russian pranksters who pretended to be the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, on a phone call. The duo, who are supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin, compelled the head of the Federal Reserve to speak on issues like inflation and how Russia managed its economy in the face of sanctions.

The Fed claimed that it appeared as though Powell’s footage had been manipulated. Additionally, it was unable to verify the accuracy of the viral clips of the Fed chief.

According to a BBC report, Powell was heard praising Elvira Nabiullina, the head of Russia’s central bank, for running the nation’s economy in the face of Western sanctions, in one of the viral audio recordings that were widely circulated on Russian television.

Powell discussed a dramatic slowdown in US GDP in another video, which came after the Fed tried to control price increases.

“We would tell you that a recession is almost as likely as very slow growth,” Powell said of expectations for 2023.

“I think that is partly because of us having raised rates quite a bit but this is what it takes to get inflation down,” the Fed chairman said.

“Chair Powell participated in a conversation in January with someone who misrepresented himself as the Ukrainian president,” a Fed spokesperson said.

“It was a friendly conversation and took place in a context of our standing in support of the Ukrainian people in this challenging time. No sensitive or confidential information was discussed,” the spokesperson further said.

The Fed spokesperson added that “the matter has been referred to appropriate law enforcement, and out of respect for their efforts, we won’t be commenting further.”

Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, sometimes known as Vovan and Lexus, were the pranksters who pretended to be Zelenskyy and spoke with Powell.

For many years, the pair has been successful in convincing foreign officials to speak with them. In 2018, the UK declared it thought the Kremlin was behind a prank call to Boris Johnson, who was the country’s foreign secretary at the time.

Vovan and Lexus frequently share footage of their practical jokes only for the purpose of embarrassing Western policymakers. They impersonated Zelenskyy once more in a conversation with Christine Lagarde, the head of the European Central Bank, earlier this year.

Additionally, they made a spoof call to former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, pretending to be the late Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

They tricked Andrzej Duda, the president of Poland, into believing he was on call last year.