The singer apparently thought he was chatting about gay rights with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week, posting an Instagram photo thanking Putin for the call.

But a Russian TV personality now says it wasn't the Kremlin on the line.

In an interview with Russian tabloid newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, a Russian celebrity prankster known as "Vovan" — whose real name is Vladimir Krasnov — described how he and his comedy sidekick made a prank call to the British singer, playing the roles of Putin and a press secretary.

"We thought Putin wouldn't want to meet him or call him at least in the nearest future, but it turned out Elton John's been waiting for such a call," Krasnov told the newspaper. "That's why he immediately believed we were exactly those whom we introduced ourselves as."

Conflicting claims

In a post on his official Instagram account on Monday, John said the Russian President got in touch with him to talk about gay rights.

"Thank-you to President Vladimir Putin for reaching out and speaking via telephone with me today," John wrote in a post Monday that featured a photo of the Russian leader. "I look forward to meeting with you face-to-face to discuss LGBT equality in Russia."

Thank-you to President Vladimir Putin for reaching out and speaking via telephone with me today. I look to forward to meeting with you face-to-face to discuss LGBT equality in Russia. @president_vladimir_putin @ejaf #lgbt #lgbtrights #ShareTheLove A photo posted by Elton John (@eltonjohn) on Sep 14, 2015 at 8:11am PDT

In Moscow, Putin's office was categorical that the singer, who regularly takes up gay rights issues, had it all wrong.

"That is not true. There was no conversation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Tuesday, according to the Russian state-run news agency Sputnik.

The contradictory statements left a puzzle about what really went on.

The pop star's representatives weren't offering any answers Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Putin post remained on his Instagram account, gathering hundreds of comments ranging from praise to abuse.

'It was us'

Krasnov told Komsomolskaya Pravda that he and his comedy sidekick, Aleksey Stolyarov, know as "Lexus," were the ones who phoned the rock star, introducing themselves as Putin and Peskov.

"Yes, it was us," Krasnov said, according to the newspaper. "Aleksey speaks perfect English, so he introduced himself as Dmitry Peskov on the phone and translated our conversation. And I was Vladimir Putin."

John, according to Krasnov, was grateful for the call.

Photos: Cult of Putin Photos: Cult of Putin While his nation waded deeper into the Syrian civil war, Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, spent his 63rd birthday on the ice Wednesday, October 7, playing hockey with NHL stars and various Russian officials and tycoons in Sochi. For years, Russia's leader has cultivated a populist image in the Russian media. Hide Caption 1 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin holds a cat as he inspects housing built for victims of wildfires in the village of Krasnopolye, in a region in southeastern Siberia, Russia, on Friday, September 4. Hide Caption 2 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin, left, and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev jokingly toast at a lunch during a meeting at the Black Sea resort in Sochi, Russia, on Sunday, August 30. Hide Caption 3 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin exercises during his meeting with Medvedev on August 30. Hide Caption 4 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin sits in a bathyscaphe as it plunges into the Black Sea along the coast of Sevastopol, Crimea, on Tuesday, August 18. Putin went underwater to see the wreckage of an ancient merchant ship that was found in the end of May. Hide Caption 5 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin holds a Persian leopard cub in February 2014 at a breeding and rehabilitation center in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Perhaps the most important vote in Russia's public selection of a new Olympic mascot was cast when Putin said he wanted a funky leopard to represent the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. Hide Caption 6 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin holds a pike he caught in the Siberian Tuva region of Russia on July 20, 2013. Hide Caption 7 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin enjoys some fishing during his vacation to the Tuva region on July 20, 2013. Hide Caption 8 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin submerges on board Sea Explorer 5 bathyscaphe near the isle of Gogland in the Gulf of Finland on July 15, 2013. Hide Caption 9 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin studies a crane during an experiment called Flight of Hope on September 5, 2012, in which he piloted a hang glider, aiming to lead the birds into flight. It's part of a project to save the rare species of crane. Hide Caption 10 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin takes part in a training session for young ice hockey players before the "Golden Puck" youth tournament final in Moscow on April 15, 2011. Hide Caption 11 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin rides a Harley-Davidson to an international biker convention in southern Ukraine on July 14, 2010. Hide Caption 12 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin The Russian president aims at a whale with an arbalest (crossbow) to take a piece of its skin for analysis at Olga Bay on August 25, 2010. Hide Caption 13 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin A wetsuit-clad Putin embarks on a dive to an underwater archaeological site at Phanagoria on the Taman Peninsula on August 10, 2011. Hide Caption 14 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Famed for his love of martial arts, Putin throws a competitor in a judo session at an athletics school in St. Petersburg on December 18, 2009. Hide Caption 15 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin during his vacation in southern Siberia on August 3, 2009. Hide Caption 16 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin swims the butterfly during his vacation outside the town of Kyzyl in southern Siberia on August 3, 2009. Hide Caption 17 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Assisted by a Russian scientist, Putin fixes a satellite transmitter to a tiger during his visit to the Ussuriysky forest reserve of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the Far East on August 31, 2008. Hide Caption 18 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin carries a hunting rifle in the Republic of Tuva on September 3, 2007. Hide Caption 19 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin A shirtless Putin fishing in the headwaters of the Yenisei River in the Republic of Tuva on August 13, 2007. Hide Caption 20 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin in the cockpit of a Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bomber jet at a military airport on August 16, 2005, before his supersonic flight. Hide Caption 21 of 21

"He said, 'Thank you, you made my day. This conversation's been the most wonderful in my life!'"

Excerpts from the phone call were broadcast on Russian state television Wednesday night, with a late-night host interviewing the pranksters.

"Hello Sir Elton," a man claiming to be Putin says in the recording. "I was told that you wanted to discuss important problems of Russian reality."

John purportedly responds that he's eager to meet in person.

"That is incredible. I am a musician and a philanthropic person and a humanitarian," he says. "I'm not a politician, but I would love to sit down with the President and discuss things face to face, because I think we can solve many issues together."

"I love Russia," the singer adds later. "It's been part of my life since 1979, and I just want to make the situation better if I can."

When asked how they got John's phone number, the pranksters told Russian TV host Ivan Urgant it was a "professional secret." During the call, Krasnov said he kept his distance from the phone to mask his voice, just in case the singer knew what the Russian President sounds like.

Krasnov has a history of making prank calls to celebrities and politicians, including former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

'I'd love to meet him'

John had said in an interview over the weekend with the BBC that he wished to meet with Putin to talk about the treatment of gay people in Russia.

"I'd love to meet him," the singer said. "I'd love to sit down with him and talk to him. It's probably pie in the sky -- but at least you try."

Asked what he'd say to Putin, John said: "Be accepting, and let's all pull together and try to solve the problems of the world. But don't isolate and be prejudiced against gay people."

Russia criticized over gay rights

Human rights groups have criticized as highly discriminatory a Russian law passed in 2013 that forbids public discussion of gay rights and relationships anywhere children might hear it.

A report in December by Human Rights Watch said Russian authorities are failing to protect gay people from persecution and are not prosecuting the perpetrators of a growing number of homophobic attacks.

Putin has said that Russia's priority is "a healthy traditional family and a healthy nation" but that did not mean that it would persecute those "of a nontraditional orientation."

Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said Wednesday that the pranksters should apologize to the singer, who he described as "respected and beloved" in Russia.

"If there really is such a proposal or request from Elton John," Peskov said, "I have no doubt that the President would be ready to meet with him and clarify any questions that he has."