Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov has scornfully referred to Tesla CEO Elon Musk as ‘Elona.’
The world’s richest man has taken on a Russian warlord who has dubbed him “Elona” just days after he challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin to a fight over the fate of Ukraine. In response to Putin’s challenge, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov sent a message to Tesla CEO over Telegram, saying that Elona should not compare his strength against Putin and that his friend Putin would hammer him if they ever came to face each other in a fight, according to multiple outlets.
The Chechnya’s warlord leader Kadyrov hit out at Musk with the slurs on messaging service Telegram a day after the SpaceX founder challenged the Russian president to a fight. Kadyrov wrote in a homophobic diatribe that Elon would need to pump up his muscles so that the (effeminate) Elona could become the brute Elon needed to become.
He also said that the Tesla and SpaceX creator should get prepared for the confrontation with Putin, advising Musk to take training at Chechen Republic’s three centers: the Akhmat Fight Club, Russian Special Forces University, and the Chechen State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company.
A nonplussed Musk shared images of Kadyrov’s telegram and responded with sarcasm in another tweet, politely declining Kadyrov’s offer to be trained in Russia. He changed his name on Twitter and signed as Elona.
Kadyrov, whose country is renowned for torturing and executing homosexual individuals, took over as President of the Chechen Republic after his father, who held the position earlier, was slain. Human Rights Watch has charged him with crimes against humanity, including kidnappings, torture, assassinations, and LGBT persecution. He has adamantly opposed the charges.
Elon Musk has been outspoken about his support for Ukraine, sending Starlink terminals to the war-torn country to keep internet services operational. Starlink is a space-based technology that privately-owned SpaceX has been developing in order to deliver internet connectivity to remote parts of the globe.
Musk, in a post on his official Twitter account on Monday, threw a challenge at Putin for one-to-one combat. He used Russian alphabets to write Putin’s name. “Ukraine is at stake,” he added. The CEO then asked in Russian, whether he agreed to this fight and tagged the Kremlin’s official Twitter account in the same thread.
Will Musk’s tweets get him into trouble as they have in the past? In 2018, he was forced to resign as Tesla’s chairman, create an independent board, and pay a $40 million fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for promising to take the electric vehicle company private at a premium share price. He is still Tesla’s president and CEO.
