A Chechen warlord who claimed Elon Musk gifted him a Cybertruck accused the Telsa CEO on Thursday of “remotely” disabling the machine-gun-mounted vehicle, which needed to be towed off the Russian battlefield.
Ramzan Kadyrov, 47, the ruthless president of Russia’s Chechnya region, claimed that his Cybertruck stopped working after he revealed it was sent into the Northern Military District for Russian troops to use in the war on Ukraine.
“Elon Musk behaved badly,” Kadyrov wrote on Telegram, according to Politico. “He gives expensive gifts from the bottom of his heart and then remotely disconnects them.”
Kadyrov claimed that the Cybertruck, first introduced to the public in 2023, performed “admirably” in combat before being allegedly disabled on the war front line.
“That’s not manly,” Kadyrov added. “How could you do that, Elon?”
He later revealed that he sent two more Cybertrucks to combat on Friday.
In August, Kadyrov released a video of himself cruising around near his presidential palace in the electric-truck-turned-combat vehicle after claiming the tech billionaire gifted it to him.
Kadyrov hailed the Cybertruck, calling it “undoubtedly one of the best cars in the world” and invited Musk to Chechnya.
However, Musk denied gifting the ride to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unswerving ally.
“Are you seriously so retarded that you think I donated a Cybertruck to a Russian general?” Musk replied to a video of the warlord riding around in the electric truck on his social media platform X.
Musk said it was “amazing” that anyone would believe Kadyrov’s unfounded claims.
Kadyrov — the son of assassinated Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov — has been the leader of the Chechen Republic since 2007 after being nominated by Putin following his father’s death.
The outspoken Kremlin ally is one of Russia’s most potent and feared supporters.
His loyalty to the Russian regime has even earned him the nickname “Putin’s attack dog.”
He has even called for Russia to use low-yield nuclear weapons against Ukraine.
Human rights groups strongly criticized Kadyrov for allowing severe human rights violations to flourish under his rule.
The US has imposed financial sanctions on Kadyrov, accusing him of a systematic campaign of repression.
The State Department said they have “credible information that Kadyrov is responsible for numerous gross violations of human rights dating back more than a decade, including torture and extrajudicial killings.”
Kadyrov has reportedly targeted “those who dissent, LGBTQI+ persons, members of religious and ethnic minority groups” and is willing to use “reprisals against their family members.”
The warlord has defended himself against critics, insisting that iron rule is required to bring stability.
