George W. Bush tells Russian pranksters posing as Ukraine president to "destroy" Putin's troops

Former U.S. president George W. Bush was seen on video telling who he believed to be Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to "destroy as many Russian troops" as the country could, seemingly unaware he was actually speaking with two Russian pranksters.

The pranksters Vovan and Lexus, whose real names are Vladimir Kuznetsov and Aleksei Stolyarov, claim they duped the 43rd president into taking a call with who he thought was Zelenskyy. It is not clear when the call was recorded, though the video was released Thursday. In addition to Ukraine, Bush also spoke about his relationship with jailed former Georgian president Milheil Saakashvili, who he described as a "rambunctious boy."

At one point in the video, the pranksters also claimed they had been speaking with Ukrainian pilots and asked to bring two onto the call, only to switch their own camera on and pretend to be said pilots. The pair have a long history of tricking dozens of high-level politicians and influential world figures, such as former Moldovan president Nicolae Timofti and singer Elton John, with those critical of Russia's foreign or domestic policies being part of their focus.

Reuters reached out to Bush's office for comment, but have not received a response and it is unknown at this time if Bush was aware he was not speaking with Zelenskyy or actual Ukrainian pilots.

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