--- title: "Warlord Friend of Putin Shows Off Cybertruck With Machine Gun Mounted to Truck Bed" description: "Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov has posted a video of himself driving a Cybertruck that has a machine gun mounted to its truck bed." date: "2024-08-19" modified: "2024-08-19" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/russia-cybertruck-machine-gun" categories: - "Advanced Transport" tags: - "cybertruck" - "elon musk" - "Russia" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Warlord Friend of Putin Shows Off Cybertruck With Machine Gun Mounted to Truck Bed ![Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov has posted a video of himself driving a Cybertruck that has a machine gun mounted to its truck be.]() *\Image: Telegram via X\* ## From Chechnya With Love Chechen warlord and Vladimir Putin crony Ramzan Kadyrov has posted a video of himself driving a Cybertruck — with a machine gun mounted to its truck bed, seemingly ready to be deployed to the front lines of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In a [Telegram post](), Kadyrov called Tesla CEO Elon Musk "the strongest genius of our time," a notable endorsement of the mercurial billionaire coming from a leader with a [lengthy track record]() of human rights abuses, including torture and assassinations. Musk, however, didn't take kindly to the news, arguing that he had never donated the vehicle to Kadyrov — while also resorting to using a problematic pejorative for somebody with a mental disability. "Are you seriously so retarded that you think I donated a Cybertruck to a Russian general?" he [responded]() on X. https://twitter.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1824818908500816224 ## Toy Truck At one point in the video, Kadyrov can be seen draping a massive ammunition belt around his neck while manning the machine gun on the back of the Cybertruck. "We received a Tesla Cybertruck from the respected Elon Musk," he wrote in his Telegram post. "I was happy to test the new equipment and personally saw that there’s a reason that it is called the ‘Cyberbeast.'" But while Kadyrov claimed that he felt "invulnerable" in the vehicle, we've already seen that Tesla's claims about the truck are largely [not much more than boisterous marketing](). We've seen bullets easily [penetrate the truck's allegedly "bulletproof" stainless steel exoskeleton](). The "armored" glass can also easily be shattered, [even by a routine hailstorm. ]()In short, it's likely going to fare very badly on the battlefield. "Based on such excellent characteristics, the Cybertruck will soon be sent to the special military operation zone," Kadyrov wrote, using Russia's nebulous euphemism for its unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine. "I am sure that this ‘beast’ will bring a lot of benefit to our fighters," he added. Meanwhile, Musk [whined on X-formerly-Twitter]() that his claims were somehow proof of "how much the legacy media lies," even though we have yet to come across a news report that claims Tesla donated the truck to Kadyrov. Earlier this year, Lithuanian customs agents [came across a pair of Cybertrucks]() that were reportedly on their way to be smuggled into Russia, so it's entirely possible Kadyrov and his co-perpetrators found illegal ways of getting their hands on the truck. **More on the Cybertruck:** *[Cybertruck Tailgates Are Deforming After Doing Regular Truck Stuff]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()