Technical problem
Russian warlord and leader of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov has accused Elon Musk of “remotely disabling” his Tesla Cybertruck. Oh yeah: he owns one. Haven’t you heard?
Kadyrov, who was installed as leader of Chechnya by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2007, first showed off his flashy ride in August. In a video shared to Telegram, the warlord can be seen driving around the grounds of his presidential palace in what certainly looks like a real-life Cybertruck — except for one minor difference: It’s been modified into a tech vehicle with a massive machine gun, which Kadyrov brandishes while dressed in oversized bandoliers like the Bullet Farmer character in 2015’s “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
Kadyrov claimed he sent the war-ready electric pickup truck to the front lines of Ukraine, where it has since “performed well in combat.”
Until it suddenly stopped working.
“Now Musk recently remotely disabled the Cybertruck,” Kadyrov wrote in a new Telegram message on Thursday, as quoted by Fortune. “That’s not nice of Elon Musk. He gives expensive gifts from the bottom of his heart and then turns them off remotely.”
“That’s not manly,” he added. “We had to drag the iron horse. How could you do that, Elon?”
Mysterious origins
How Kadyrov came to own a Cybertruck is a mystery. According to the man himself, it was a gift from Musk, a claim he made in August and has since repeated.
But Tesla’s CEO has denied this version of events in insulting terms. Responding to a tweet last month in which a journalist criticized him for allegedly giving the gift, Musk said wrote“Are you really so retarded that you think I donated a Cybertruck to a Russian general?” Thanks for the clarification, Elon.
We suspect he would also deny that he “remotely disabled” the vehicle. Kadyrov’s Cybertruck likely stopped working earlier because it’s a poorly built piece of junk that has a history of breaking down. Apparently, Kadyrov didn’t get the memo.
That said, the Chechen leader also claims that he actually… two more Cybertrucks, both of which are currently making waves in Ukraine.
“The remote shutdown did not affect these vehicles. They are functioning normally, without any malfunctions,” he said on Telegram on Friday, per CNN“You couldn’t wish for better advertising for the Cybertruck.”
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