Russian warlord accuses Elon Musk of remotely disabling his Tesla Cybertruck

A Russian warlord who claimed he had been gifted a Cybertruck by Elon Musk has accused the Tesla CEO of remotely disabling the machine gun-equipped pickup.

As reported by CNN, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov claimed the Cybertruck had been shut down, while also claiming two more examples of Tesla’s electric pickup have been sent into battle against Ukrainian forces.

“What Elon Musk did was not nice. He gives expensive gifts from the heart and then remotely switches them off,” Mr Kadyrov said on social media platform Telegram.

100s of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now.

“Two more Cybertrucks have been sent to the SVO (Ukraine war) zone. The remote shutdown did not affect these vehicles. They are operating normally, without any failures. You couldn’t ask for better advertising for the Cybertruck.”

Last month, Mr Kadyrov claimed the Cybertruck was sent to him by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whom he called “the strongest genius of our time”.

Mr Musk however denied that he’d played any part in sending the vehicle to Mr Kadyrov, posting on X (formerly Twitter): “Are you seriously so retarded that you think I donated a Cybertruck to a Russian general?”

CNN reports the US State Department placed sanctions on Mr Kadyrov in 2020, alleging it had “extensive credible information” that he was responsible for “gross violations of human rights”.

MORE: Everything Tesla Cybertruck