Russia Offers 'Election Interference' In April Fools' Day Prank

The Russian Foreign Ministry created "a new answer message" for Moscow's diplomatic missions abroad kindly offering callers such services as election meddling, Russian hackers' tradecraft, and a defamatory call to their political opponent.

"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 message says.

The audio is recorded in Russian and English. The English-speaking part starts at 0:30.

Moscow's contribution to the global prank campaign on April 1 ironically hints at the allegations of tipping the scale in the 2016 US Presidential Election in favor of Republican Donald Trump.

However, not everyone wised up to the point.

"Associated Press reporters phoned us and asked to officially confirm whether 'the answer message' was a joke… It's a pity we spoiled their party — they were probably celebrating," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote.