"Russian government posts April Fools' Day prank offering "election interference"

[LongTermGuy]

http://cbsnews1.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2017/04/01/b6a39fd2-ba0f-4d25-8e08-57cf79c51ff4/thumbnail/620x350g2/58e5c0bfe17c1f2c5537c7fd2b68fc2d/gettyimages-109001140.jpg#

"MOSCOW -- Need some election interference? The Russian Foreign Ministry is ready to help -- or so it says on April Fools’ Day.
On Saturday, the ministry posted on its Facebook page an audio file of the purported new automated telephone switchboard message for Russian embassies.
“To arrange a call from a Russian diplomat to your political opponent, press 1,” the recording begins, in Russian and English. Press 2 “to use the services of Russian hackers,” and 3 “to request election interference.”
The English portion of the recording begins 26 seconds into the video, with the title translated as “Answering machine for Russian diplomatic missions.”


A ministry duty officer, who did not give his name in line with official practice, confirmed to The Associated Press that the post was an official joke.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday emphatically denied (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/vladimir-putin-donald-trump-endless-and-groundless-election-meddling/) allegations of Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election."

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/russian-government-posts-april-fools-day-prank-offering-election-interference/

[Balu]

http://cbsnews1.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2017/04/01/b6a39fd2-ba0f-4d25-8e08-57cf79c51ff4/thumbnail/620x350g2/58e5c0bfe17c1f2c5537c7fd2b68fc2d/gettyimages-109001140.jpg#

"MOSCOW -- Need some election interference? The Russian Foreign Ministry is ready to help -- or so it says on April Fools’ Day.
On Saturday, the ministry posted on its Facebook page an audio file of the purported new automated telephone switchboard message for Russian embassies.
“To arrange a call from a Russian diplomat to your political opponent, press 1,” the recording begins, in Russian and English. Press 2 “to use the services of Russian hackers,” and 3 “to request election interference.”
The English portion of the recording begins 26 seconds into the video, with the title translated as “Answering machine for Russian diplomatic missions.”


A ministry duty officer, who did not give his name in line with official practice, confirmed to The Associated Press that the post was an official joke.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday emphatically denied (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/vladimir-putin-donald-trump-endless-and-groundless-election-meddling/) allegations of Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election."

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/russian-government-posts-april-fools-day-prank-offering-election-interference/

MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/. On April’s Fool day, Russia’s Foreign Ministry offered Western politicians to help interfere in election campaigns, make a diplomat’s call to opponents and provide services of Russian hackers, the ministry said in a prank of "the Russian embassy’s answering machine" posted on its Facebook page on Saturday.
"You have reached the Russian embassy. Your call is very important to us. To arrange a call from a Russian diplomat to your political opponents, press 1. To use the services of Russian hackers, press 2. To request election interference, press 3 and wait until the next election campaign. Please note that all calls are recorded for quality improvement and training purposes," the answering machine says.
The recording is available, first in Russian and then in English.
Nevertheless, diplomats’ humor has been sometimes taken too seriously.
"On April 1, at three in the afternoon (12.00 GMT) Associated Press reporters phoned the Russian Foreign Ministry’s information and press department and asked to ‘officially confirm’ that the recording on the answering machine was a prank," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on her Facebook page. "I am sorry that we have ruined the holiday for AP as they had been celebrating for sure."

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has repeatedly reiterated that any accusations of Russia’s interference in elections, hacking into computers and databases, influence on other countries’ internal affairs are absolutely groundless and are not substantiated by any evidence.



More:
http://tass.com/politics/938800

[LongTermGuy]

MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/. On April’s Fool day, Russia’s Foreign Ministry offered Western politicians to help interfere in election campaigns, make a diplomat’s call to opponents and provide services of Russian hackers, the ministry said in a prank of "the Russian embassy’s answering machine" posted on its Facebook page on Saturday.
"You have reached the Russian embassy. Your call is very important to us. To arrange a call from a Russian diplomat to your political opponents, press 1. To use the services of Russian hackers, press 2. To request election interference, press 3 and wait until the next election campaign. Please note that all calls are recorded for quality improvement and training purposes," the answering machine says.
The recording is available, first in Russian and then in English.
Nevertheless, diplomats’ humor has been sometimes taken too seriously.
"On April 1, at three in the afternoon (12.00 GMT) Associated Press reporters phoned the Russian Foreign Ministry’s information and press department and asked to ‘officially confirm’ that the recording on the answering machine was a prank," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on her Facebook page. "I am sorry that we have ruined the holiday for AP as they had been celebrating for sure."

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has repeatedly reiterated that any accusations of Russia’s interference in elections, hacking into computers and databases, influence on other countries’ internal affairs are absolutely groundless and are not substantiated by any evidence.



More:
http://tass.com/politics/938800

https://media.tenor.co/images/77d04895c5706d041c53f5774bae5b8d/raw

[Balu]

https://media.tenor.co/images/77d04895c5706d041c53f5774bae5b8d/raw

As to me I really like such cartoons. They indicate a certain helplessness of the authors and show that Putin is not a weak-willed amorphous and faceless figure but a bright leader of the country, to whom many envy. If to see this row of pictures attentively and try to think it over, the Continuity of generations here is evident. In any period of the ancient History of our country we had own Putin.
http://s.rimg.info/83d91a5b1e68c306bea5c23f9bc21630.gif (http://smayliki.ru/smilie-90186951.html)