The mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, fell last June into a trap interview with two Russian comedians, Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov, who posed as the mayor of Kyiv, former boxer Vitali Klichkó, and chatted with him in a video conference for almost 20 minutes.
During the telematic interview, the PP leader offers to deport refugees back to Ukraine to fight against Russia. “Of course, I don't think that's a problem. Madrid supports the sending of Ukrainians to Ukraine to take part in the hostilities”, says the mayor when asked if he can collaborate with deportation programs for men who have fled the war in the last six months. The video was published this Wednesday.
The couple of Russian comedians, also known as Vovan and Lexus, put the mayor of the Spanish capital in a bind, since the deportation in this case contravenes the provisions of international law on refugees. "I think it is necessary to punish the Russian bastards here in Spain and in Madrid," Almeida confessed.
"I want to let you know that I think even more soldiers are needed to fight against Russia. And Madrid currently has the transportation capacity, if the need arises, to deport people to Ukraine," Almedia said after noting that Madrid supports sending Ukrainians to Ukraine to go to the front
The Madrid council interrupted the conversation after 17 minutes, when they found that it was an impostor when the conversation entered a swampy terrain. Days later, Almeida filed a complaint about what happened and notified the Kyiv City Council of the misunderstanding.
Between half-serious moments, the comedian put Almeida to the test with questions and peculiar requests. On one occasion, he asked her what she thought about the action that the Ukrainian activists wanted to organize on the occasion of the summit: "They want to attack, naked, the members of the NATO delegations and smear them with faeces."
They also made him believe that the ambassador was going to appear without clothes, an action that the mayor found "very interesting" and a "good metaphor" that symbolized that Ukraine is naked.
The comedians also asked the alderman about the nickname "carapolla", to which Almeida replied that his political opponents were the ones who came up with the nickname because of the size of his nose. It is from that moment when they realize that they are being deceived.
The conversation ends with an unpleasant tone and during it several banal issues are touched upon, such as the ball that Almeida inadvertently hit a child, and others from current Spanish politics, such as the ball of the masks in the capital
It is not the first time that a high-ranking Spanish politician falls for the jokes of these two comedians. It so happens that in 2017 María Dolores de Cospedal was deceived, when she was a minister, and made to believe that Carles Puigdemont was a Russian spy nicknamed Cipollino. On that occasion they posed as members of the Latvian government.
Something similar to Almeida also happened to the mayor-governor of Berlin, Franziska Giffey. In her case, the videoconference was a realistic video, manipulated by artificial intelligence and she was also asked if the men who had taken refuge in Germany to fight in the war would be repatriated to Ukraine.
