Russian pranksters Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov are claiming credit for luring Sanders into a phone call with the ersatz Thunberg and her father, Svante. The two have a history of pranking US politicians, and they posted the results to YouTube.

Stolyarov played the role of Svante in the call, with an unidentified woman acting as Greta. They raised the possiblity of endorsing Sanders for US president.

“Let us continue to talk and when you come to the United States I will bring some people together and we can do some interesting things, and if you wanted to make a statement in support of my candidacy and the program we have outlined for climate change, I would be very very appreciative,” Sanders said.

But the conversation took a strange turn when “Greta” began asking about the Senator’s 1988 visit to the Soviet Union, where he was allegedly “recruited.”

“In the Soviet Union in 1988, after you were recruited you were programmed to work for Russia and your memory was erased so the CIA wouldn’t track you down,” she said.

“This is what you believe?” a shocked Sanders asked.

“Yes, you became a sleeper agent of the KGB. Now it’s time to wake up and fulfill your mission, become president of the United States, build communism in the United States and work for Russia!”

Sanders eventually caught on and hung up. So far, no comment from his camp on the incident.