"Useless in war"

Kadyrov confesses to big cybertruck lie

Months ago, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov boasted about his "gift" from the USA. Now he has admitted that he lied.(Bild: APA/AFP/@rkadyrov_95/TELEGRAM/Handout)

In the summer, Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov boasted about a special "gift" he claimed to have received from the USA: a Cybertruck from Tesla. He had received it "personally from Elon Musk", claimed the president, who was seen in a video driving around the capital Grozny in the heavily armored vehicle and showing off the machine gun mounted on the roof. But now Kadyrov has admitted: It was all a big lie!

When asked about the "Tesla tank", the president admitted the big Tesla lie to the Russian news portal "Meduza": "I'm interested in Elon Musk himself. I like his character, his lifestyle, the way he behaves and his world view. He didn't give me the car, it wasn't mine - I came up with this joke and kept it going."

Ramzan Kadyrov's martial appearance on the roof of a cybertruck(Bild: Telegram @Kadyrov_95)

Months ago, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov boasted about his "gift" from the USA. Now he has admitted to lying.(Bild: APA/AFP/@rkadyrov_95/TELEGRAM/Handout)

Musk: "Are you really that retarded?"
Musk himself had previously commented on the case and denied having sent any gifts to Chechnya. The tech billionaire insulted a columnist on the short message platform X after the journalist confronted him with the alleged gift: "Are you really so retarded that you think I gave a cybertruck to a Russian general? That's amazing."

A little later, Kadyrov complained that his Cybertruck had been switched off "by remote control". Nevertheless, he ordered two more models and sent them to the Ukrainian front. That too was probably a lie. Putin's governor in Chechnya now told "Meduza" that only one Cybertruck had been used in the war, but had proved to be "useless".