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.
What Happened: “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.
The Head of the Chechen Republic 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.
In another post, Kadyrov said that he is now sending two more Cybertrucks which were unaffected by the remote shutdown to the warzone. The attached video shows the trucks riding 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 wrote in the post.
Why It Matters: Kadyrov first shared a video of him driving the Cybertruck with a machine gun mounted on the roof on Telegram last month.
"Based on such excellent characteristics, the Cybertruck will soon be sent to the SVO zone (Russia-Ukraine war zone), where it will be in demand under appropriate conditions. I am sure this “beast” will bring a lot of benefits to our soldiers," Kadyrov then wrote on Telegram in Russian, hinting at the use of the Tesla vehicle in the country's war against Ukraine.
Kadyrov thanked Musk for the truck and also welcomed him to Grozny, the capital city of Chechnya.
Musk, however, denied “donating” a Cybertruck to Kadyrov and wrote on X, “Are you seriously so r******* that you think I donated a Cybertruck to a Russian general? That's amazing.”
Though Musk has denied "donating" the truck to Kadyrov, the CEO didn't clarify how the leader might have gained access to the truck showcased in the video shared on Telegram. The Cybertruck is currently limited to sales within the U.S.
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(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.)
Photo: courtesy of Tesla
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