I said it multiple times how ridiculous I find that so many people readily buy into these stories. But... I don't know now, this was pretty convincing, to be honest. Not really a "proof" of anything, of course — this guy could be anyone, and of course it is really weird how he didn't recognize Navalny's voice and talked about all this stuff over the insecure line... But I can believe that. I mean, if it was fake, it was some really impressive fake, with much better script and acting than anything I can now remember. My biggest issue was believing that people doing important stuff in FSS can really be useless idiots, and this was such a convincing portrayal of such an idiot that I'm starting to accept it.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to hear more of that story.
The belligncat guy just did an interview and mentioned that some of the other guys immediately recognized Navalny's voice and hung up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCGHepzBzUc
The one they got to talk was in the cleanup crew, so probably not as familiar with him.
Everyone in Russia is familiar with Navalny, though. I mean, it's not like everyone in USA personally met Joe Rogan or Elon Musk (not sure if these are the best example, since I am not from the USA, but I'm guessing they must be good enough), but you probably are kind of familiar with them and vividly remember their voices. You don't have to be a CIA agent spying on them to recognize them over the phone.
That being said, as I already told, I think it is plausible. People often don't recognize other people by voice, despite being very much familiar with each other.
There's a reason authoritarian regimes mostly represent failed states, with maybe a few exceptions. If your regime has a negative effect on education, healthcare, administrative roles, why would the security services remain cold-blooded professionals? There's negative selection at every part of this system.
If Joe Biden called you up now and demanded to know about some work you did 3 years ago, yet claimed to be someone high up your chain of command and gave a fake name, would you fall for it?
I don't think you would... The voice alone would give it away. There's no way the leader of the opposition isn't famous enough to be recognisable on the phone...
I think you're overestimating the recognizability of voices (barring voices with very unusual qualities), especially without context, especially over the phone.
He absolutely is famous enough to be recognisable on the phone. That's why I'm mentioning it. It is weird indeed. But kinda plausible, I can believe that. Did it never occur to you to meet someone you work with outside of your job and not recognize them before they greet you, just because they are wearing different clothes and you didn't expect to meet them here? It sure ocurred to me. Also, I remember calling my grandma as a kid to tell we'll visit her today (she was delighted to hear that!) and only after putting the phone down realizing that I actually called the wrong number (you had to enter the number manually back then).
I mean, people do make mistakes. And this was very convincing portrayal of a clumsy dude who is prone to making such mistakes. Very realistic fool.
I said it multiple times how ridiculous I find that so many people readily buy into these stories. But... I don't know now, this was pretty convincing, to be honest. Not really a "proof" of anything, of course — this guy could be anyone, and of course it is really weird how he didn't recognize Navalny's voice and talked about all this stuff over the insecure line... But I can believe that. I mean, if it was fake, it was some really impressive fake, with much better script and acting than anything I can now remember. My biggest issue was believing that people doing important stuff in FSS can really be useless idiots, and this was such a convincing portrayal of such an idiot that I'm starting to accept it.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to hear more of that story.