Elon Musk Denies Gifting Cybertruck To Russian General With A Machine Gun Habit

We all know that the internet is weird, but fake news never fail to amaze us. The latest victim is billionaire Elon Musk, who denied rumors about gifting a Tesla Cybertruck to Ramzan Kadyrov – a Chechen leader and Russian general.

The fake news sparked after Kadyrov appeared on video thanking Elon Musk for the Cybetruck. In the footage, published on Russian social media Telegram, Kadyrov test drives Tesla’s electric pickup, which has been retrofitted with a machine gun. The Putin ally praised the EV for its performance, stating it will be sent to the front, taking part in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Anton Gerashchenko, a self-declared Ukrainian Patriot, shared the video on X (formerly Twitter), with the claim that Kadyrov said he received the Cybetruck from Elon Musk. Others followed – including Musk critic Seth Abramson – sparking an outrage against the Tesla CEO. Two days after the original post, Elon Musk took action, categorically denying the rumors.

Musk wrote: “Are you seriously so retarded that you think I donated a Cybertruck to a Russian general? That’s amazing 🤣🤣”, adding that this is “Yet another example of how much the legacy media lies”.

Anton Gerashchenko acknowledged Elon’s response, claiming that “Kadyrov is a liar”. He went on to ask how did the Chechen leader managed to obtain the Tesla, and why Tesla isn’t remotely disabling it due to violating the sanctions. Finally, he added that the Russian media “enthusiastically” spread the news about Kadyrov lying.

It seems that Kadyrov thanked Musk for creating the Cybertruck rather than sending it as a gift. His words were likely misinterpreted by some viewers, and it didn’t take long for the false claims to spread like a wildfire.

As for how did the Russian general get his hands on a Tesla Cybertruck, this could the case of an illegal import operation. A few months ago, Lithuanian authorities seized two Cybertrucks, suspected of trying to enter Russian territory despite the sanctions.

According to Wikipedia, Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov, known under the nickname “Lyulya”, is a Russian politician, colonel general in the Russian military, and current Head of the majority-Muslim Chechen Republic. Politico portrays him as one of the most prominent allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin in his war on Ukraine, and a combat sports fanatic.