Allegation Sparks Controversy
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov alleged on Friday that Tesla CEO Elon Musk remotely turned off his Cybertruck with a mounted machine gun after it was sent to the Northern Military District as part of the Russia-Ukraine war.
The Bold Claim
“Elon Musk did something ugly. He gives expensive gifts from the heart, and then turns them off remotely,” Kadyrov wrote in a post on messaging app Telegram in Russian.
Kadyrov added that the truck was sent to the Northern Military District where it “coped well” in combat missions and had to be towed after it was turned off.
Rattling Accusations
In another post, Kadyrov mentioned sending two more Cybertrucks unaffected by the remote shutdown to the warzone. A video showed the trucks moving through a forested area with men in military uniforms in the truckbeds and mounted machine guns.
“You can’t think of a better advertisement for Cybertruck,” Kadyrov remarked in the post.
Context and Fallout
Kadyrov previously shared a video of himself driving the Cybertruck with a mounted machine gun on the roof last month, hinting at its potential use in the Russia-Ukraine war zone.
In response, Musk denied “donating” a Cybertruck to Kadyrov and expressed disbelief at the allegations.
The CEO did not clarify how the Chechen leader got access to the Cybertruck, considering it is currently limited to U.S. sales only.
(Note: The Telegram post mentioned in this story was translated from Russian to English with Google Translate. Benzinga does not vouch for the accuracy of the translation.)