Nikolai Peskov, the son of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, has been trapped into saying he does not intend to obey a call-up to fight in Ukraine in a prank call from the team backing jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
The member of Navalny's team pretended in the call made on Wednesday to be a member of Moscow's defence commando implementing the partial mobilization announced by President Vladimir Putin the same day.
The younger Peskov, who is 32, said he would not be reporting for duty and would resolve the issue "at a different level" in the call which has been made public.
"If you know that I am Mr Peskov, you should understand, that it is not completely right for me to be there. In brief, I will arrange this at a different level," he told the caller.
Asked whether he would report for duty at 10.00 am the next day, he said "Believe me, neither you nor I need that."
Navalny's team denied a claim made by the Kremlin spokesman and father to the effect that the phone call had been edited, pointing out that it was made during a live broadcast.
Russian media reported that Peskov had made clear that his son would not evade military service.
During the call, Peskov junior said that he was in principle prepared to defend Russia, but that he did not wish to be sent to Ukraine.
"If Vladimir Vladimirovich tells me that I have to go there, then I will go there," he said.
Navalny has accused Putin of throwing ordinary Russians into the mincer while the elite was avoiding harm.
