The Kremlin may have ignored billionaire Elon Musk, who challenged President Vladimir Putin to fight Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, but several Russian officials have taken steps to protect their leader by mocking Mask online.
Strange Tesla CEO tweeted on Monday: “I am here to challenge Vladimir Putin for a single fight”, betting on Ukraine. Dmitry Rogzin, head of Russia’s space agency, who in the past had insulted Musk as a rival space rocket maker, responded the same day by quoting a poem referring to a “young little devil, too weak to compete with me.”
Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Russia’s Chechnya region and an ally of Putin, addressed Musk by the feminine Russian first name, Ilona, which sounds like Elon, telling him that he lacked the physical strength to fight Putin, a judo fan and “terrorist” of the West. .
“When Vladimir Vladimirovich (Putin) defeats a weak opponent like you, he will look like a sport,” Kadyrov wrote, “in order to transform from a gentle Ilona to a masculine elon, Musk should first pump some muscle.”
Kasturi hit back on Tuesday, telling Kadyrov in a tweet signed by “Elona” that he would have “excessive benefits” after training. “If he’s afraid to fight, I’ll just use my left hand and I’m not even left-handed,” he wrote.
Telegram founder Pavel Durav announced Wednesday that he had booked the profile name “Elona” on his messaging app and was waiting for Musk to start using it, Kadyrov quickly suggested that Durav had changed it to Ilona. Nevertheless, in the next post, Kadyrov said that he respects the mask for its character and strong will.
Asked about the online scuffle, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday: “We don’t follow it. We don’t read Twitter for long.”
Thomson Reuters 2022