{"id":182553,"date":"2026-11-12T16:18:30","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T15:18:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/?p=182553"},"modified":"2026-11-14T22:37:21","modified_gmt":"2026-11-14T21:37:21","slug":"rysk-bluffduo-lurade-openai-chefer-om-ukraina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/russian-scam-duo-tricked-openai-executives-about-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian Scam Duo Deceived OpenAI Executives About Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Over the years, the Russian prank duo Vovan and Lexus have tricked a number of well-known politicians and officials around the world, including Swedish ministers and several heads of state. Now, the same duo has managed to infiltrate a conversation with three high-ranking security officials at OpenAI, where they posed as Ukraine\u2019s intelligence chief.<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Three high-ranking security officials at OpenAI were tricked into a 17-minute video call with the Russian prank duo <strong>Vovan and Lexus<\/strong>, which <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2026\/11\/11\/openai-ukraine-russia-prank-security\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2026\/11\/11\/openai-ukraine-russia-prank-security\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Intercept<\/a><\/strong> was the first to report on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The duo pretended to be <strong>Rustem Umerov<\/strong>, head of Ukraine's intelligence service, and prompted OpenAI officials to discuss military aid to Ukraine, including the possibility of providing offensive AI capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-src=\"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Rustem.jpg\" alt=\"Rustem Umerov (left) and P\u00e5l Jonson (right). Screenshot: Government Offices of Sweden\" class=\"wp-image-158756 lazyload\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.575624380700729;width:357px;height:auto\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"969\" height=\"615\" src=\"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Rustem.jpg\" alt=\"Rustem Umerov (left) and P\u00e5l Jonson (right). Screenshot: Government Offices of Sweden\" class=\"wp-image-158756\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.575624380700729;width:357px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Rustem.jpg 969w, https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Rustem-300x190.jpg 300w, https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Rustem-768x487.jpg 768w, https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Rustem-150x95.jpg 150w, https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Rustem-696x442.jpg 696w, https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Rustem-600x381.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rustem Umerov (left) and P\u00e5l Jonson (right). Screenshot: Government Offices of Sweden<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Three security managers attended the meeting<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The following people participated in the meeting: <strong>Sasha Baker<\/strong>, Head of National Security Policy at OpenAI, <strong>Caroline Zier<\/strong>, responsible for strategic initiatives, and <strong>Ben Crampton<\/strong>, who leads the company\u2019s European security efforts. All three have previously held senior positions in U.S. defense agencies or international organizations. During the conversation, Crampton noted, among other things, that OpenAI wants to build as deep a relationship as possible with Ukraine, but that it may take time. He also mentioned some internal reluctance to involve the technology in offensive military contexts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">OpenAI confirms that the call took place and that the company has investigated it. According to a spokesperson, it was determined to be a prank by individuals with a history of targeting public officials and companies. The company says it has taken steps to prevent similar incidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Previously Deceived Swedish Ministers<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since 2011, Vovan and Lexus have been making prank calls to famous people. Among their victims are Swedish politicians such as <strong>Ann Linde <\/strong>(S), <strong>Tobias Billstr\u00f6m<\/strong> (M) and <strong>P\u00e5l Jonson<\/strong> (M), as well as world leaders such as <strong>Emmanuel Macron<\/strong>, <strong>Boris Johnson<\/strong> and <strong>Justin Trudeau<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The pair has previously been accused of having ties to the Russian government, which they deny. According to them, the OpenAI meeting was arranged through a Ukrainian official in San Francisco who believed he was speaking with the real Umerov.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-src=\"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/HW443ltWcAEsevX-1024x603.jpeg\" alt=\"OpenAI&#039;s Security Leaders\" class=\"wp-image-182556 lazyload\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.698237885462555;width:822px;height:auto\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"603\" src=\"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/HW443ltWcAEsevX-1024x603.jpeg\" alt=\"OpenAI&#039;s Security Leaders\" class=\"wp-image-182556\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.698237885462555;width:822px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/HW443ltWcAEsevX-1024x603.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/HW443ltWcAEsevX-300x177.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/HW443ltWcAEsevX-768x452.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/HW443ltWcAEsevX-18x12.jpeg 18w, https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/HW443ltWcAEsevX-150x88.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/HW443ltWcAEsevX-696x410.jpeg 696w, https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/HW443ltWcAEsevX-1068x629.jpeg 1068w, https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/HW443ltWcAEsevX-600x354.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/HW443ltWcAEsevX.jpeg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">OpenAI's Security Leaders<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Russian scam duo tricked OpenAI executives into providing military AI support to Ukraine\u2014the same group that tricked Swedish ministers<\/p>","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":182558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[207,205],"tags":[6913,187,195],"class_list":["post-182553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-utrikes","category-nyheter","tag-openai","tag-ryssland","tag-ukraina"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182553"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":182658,"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182553\/revisions\/182658"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}