“Press 3 For Election Interference,” Russian Foreign Ministry Jokes

Too Soon?

The Russian Foreign Ministry took to its social media accounts today to release an “official joke” for April Fool’s Day, posting video of a new “proposed” voicemail for their embassy answering machine that offered Russian hacking and election interference services.

As The Washington Post reported, the video was recorded in both Russian and English. “You have reached the Russian embassy,” the video begins, “your call is very important to us.” It then proceeds to offer three options for moving forward.

“To arrange a call from a Russian diplomat to your political opponents, press one,” it says. “To use the services of Russian hackers, press two,” and finally, “to request election interference, press three, and wait until the next election campaign.”

You can see the full video below, with the English translation beginning at 0:28. Its text translates as “answering machine for Russian diplomatic missions.”

A ministry duty officer, who in accordance with official practice did not provide his name, advised The Associated Press that the post was an “official joke.”

Too soon?

When asked directly about Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election, Vladimir Putin recently responded, “Read my lips: No.”