Chechen Leader Ramzan Kadyrov Says Elon Musk Deactivated Tesla Cybertruck

JAKARTA - Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov accused billionaire Elon Musk of disabling his Tesla Cybertruck which he claimed was obtained from Musk last month.

"Recently, Musk paralyzed the Cybertruck remotely," Kadyrov said in a post on his Telegram account, quoted by the Daily Sabah September 20.

"It wasn't a good thing for Elon Musk to do. He gave a expensive gift from the bottom of his heart and then turned it off remotely," he said.

Kadyrov, who has ruled Chechnya, Russia for more than 17 years, shared a video in August showing himself driving the electric vehicle with what appeared to be an engine gun mounted on its roof.

Kadyrov said he received the vehicle from Musk, a claim Tesla owner called a lie on his social media platform, X.

"Did you really get that stupid to think I donated a Cybertruck to a Russian general?" he wrote at the time on X, as quoted by CNN.

Kadyrov, who regretted the vehicle had to be pulled from the battlefield, said it had sent two more similar vehicles to the battlefield.

"Two more Cybertrucks have been sent to the SVO (Ukraine war) zone," the warlord added on Friday, by uploading a video of two Tesla trucks in the forest area, each armed with an installed machine gun. The video shows people in military uniforms shooting from the roof of the vehicle.

" Long-distance deactivation does not affect this vehicle. Vehicles operate normally, without any failure," he said on Telegram.

"You can't ask for a better ad for a Cybertruck," he added.

It is known that Musk launched the fully electric-powered Tesla Cybertruck in 2019 in Los Angeles. Tesla Cybertruck prices start at around 90,000 US dollars in the United States.