--- title: "Elon Musk Insists He Didn’t Give Cybertruck Mounted With Machine Gun to Notorious Warlord" description: "Elon Musk keeps denying he gave a warlord a machine gun-equipped Cybertruck — even though the warlord in question originated the claim." date: "2024-08-20" modified: "2024-08-20" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-denies-warlord-machine-gun-cybertruck" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "cybertruck" - "elon musk" - "Russia" - "the digest" --- # Elon Musk Insists He Didn’t Give Cybertruck Mounted With Machine Gun to Notorious Warlord ![Elon Musk keeps denying he gave a warlord a machine gun-equipped Cybertruck — even though the warlord in question originated the claim.]() *\Image: Ramzan Kadyrov\* ## Deny Everything Elon Musk keeps denying that he gave a Chechen warlord a machine gun-equipped Cybertruck — even though the warlord in question was the one to originate the claim. As [*CNN* notes](), Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the [Russia-annexed]() Chechen Republic who [acts as Vladimir Putin's footsoldier]() in the region, [suggested in a Telegram post]() over the weekend that Musk had given him the [makeshift Cyber-tank](). "We received a Tesla Cybertruck from the respected Elon Musk," Kadyrov wrote, per *CNN*'s translation. "I was happy to test the new equipment and personally saw that there’s a reason that it is called the 'Cyberbeast." Responding to a critic on [X-formerly-Twitter](), Musk insisted that the claim was false, and used a slur against disabled people to drive the point home. "Are you seriously so r\*tarded that you think I donated a Cybertruck to a Russian general?" the multi-hyphenate billionaire wrote. "That’s amazing." Such eloquence from one of the world's richest men! ## Fool Me Twice After that initial denial, Kadyrov's claim continued to spread like wildfire on social media. In response, Musk doubled down on his denial, this time piggybacking off another user's post. "I seriously doubt that Elon Musk is giving free Cybertrucks to Russian officials," the user wrote alongside a screenshot of an article repeating Kadyrov's claim. "Perhaps the guy got \[it\] from someone who sold it to him. But I can’t see Elon Musk giving Cybertrucks to Russia." In response, the South African-Canadian tycoon suggested that the Chechen leader, who encouraged and led the country's [infamous gay purges in 2017](), was probably just joking. "This is completely false," [Musk wrote](). "He is trolling." At the end of the day, the serial entrepreneur is probably telling the truth — but given his [weirdly pro-Russian stance]() amid Putin's [lengthy invasion of Ukraine](), it makes sense why people would believe the Chechen warlord here. **More on Musk:** [*Elon Musk May Have to Sell Tesla Stock to Prop Up Dying Twitter*.]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()