[ad_1]
Elon Musk’s feud with the Kremlin took another strange turn this week after the billionaire changed his Twitter name to “Elona” following a taunt by Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov.
Kadyrov, the head of the Chechen Republic, slammed Musk following the billionaire’s tongue-in-cheek suggestion that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin should engage in “single combat.”
A close Putin ally, Kadyrov responded with a lengthy post in which he referred to Musk as “gentle (effeminate) Elona” and invited him to train with Chechen special forces to prepare for the fight.
Kadyrov said Musk would return from the trip a “completely different person.” Musk responded by sharing a translation of Kadyrov’s post and declining the training offer.
“Thank you for the offer, but such excellent training would give me too much of an advantage. If he is afraid to fight, I will agree to use only my left hand and I am not even left-handed,” Musk tweeted, signing off his post with the name “Elona.”
The Tesla founder also changed his Twitter display name to reflect Kadyrov’s taunt.
Musk initially challenged Putin to a fight earlier this week as Russia escalated its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, tweeting “stakes are Ukraine.”
Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, tweeted in response to Musk, referring to him as a “little devil.”
“Compete with me weakling; it would only be a waste of time. Overtake my brother first,” Rogozin said.
Musk has tweeted about the fight several times since he initially made the challenge. In one post, Musk shared a meme of himself using a Boring Company flamethrower alongside an altered image of a shirtless Putin riding a bear.
“He can even bring his bear,” Musk wrote.
While Musk has poked fun at Russian officials on Twitter, he has played a serious role in assisting Ukraine during the invasion. SpaceX provided Starlink internet to Ukrainians to address concerns that the populace could lose access during the hostilities.
Musk also issued a warning for Ukrainians to be careful when using the service because the Russian military was likely to target satellite signals with strikes.
[ad_2]