Vladislav Bokhan posed as an official of the ruling United Russia party, sending what appeared to be a government directive to schools instructing teachers to make the ‘protective’ headwear, dubbed the ‘helmet of the fatherland’ and bearing the Russian flag to keep them safe from NATO satellites.

Bokhan posted in the Telegram app on November 9 that he had pulled the stunt in July and had encouraged the teachers to send videos and photos of their efforts.

Teachers from seven schools obeyed the instructions and presented evidence of their handiwork.

In one, a teacher is seen wearing the hat and saying: “Let the helmet that you make with your own hands become a means of protection against foreign enemies of our wonderful country.”

A local Education Ministry spokesperson praised the teachers for their national pride, saying they had been "the subject of an inappropriate joke,", but had "demonstrated patriotic spirit, strong dedication, and a creative approach to any task," Radio Free Europe reported.

Bokhan who lives in Poland has a reputation for targeting Russians with pranks he says are aimed at highlighting the “fascistization of Russian society.”

In the past he has sought to highlight government hypocrisy and his opposition to the invasion of Ukraine through his lighthearted approach to politics.

Last year, he encouraged teachers to send Vladimir Putin birthday wishes bearing the image of Stepan Bandera, a WWII Ukrainian nationalist abhorred by the Kremlin.

In another prank, he pretended to be a Russian war hero serving in Ukraine and tricked Russian schools into holding marches in his honor.

Two years ago, Bokhan had teachers in the town of Klin, near Moscow, hold a community clean-up day and pose with a poster reading ‘One people, one nation, one ruler,’ in imitation of the Nazi slogan ‘Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer’ used at concentration camps.