Elon Musk is looking to throw down with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Tesla co-founder, 50, challenged Putin, 69, to a one-on-one fight amidst Russia’s tragic invasion of Ukraine. “I hereby challenge Vladimir Putin to single combat,” Elon wrote on Twitter March 14. “Stakes are Ukraine,” he added. Elon wrote Putin’s name in Russian and Ukraine in Ukrainian.
In a follow-up tweet, the billionaire directly tagged Putin and asked, in Russian, “Do you agree to this fight?” One user asked Elon, “Did you think this through?” to which he responded, “I am absolutely serious.”
I hereby challenge
Владимир Путин
to single combatStakes are Україна
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 14, 2022
Вы согласны на этот бой? @KremlinRussia_E
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 14, 2022
Elon’s been vocal about his support for Ukraine. After Russia invaded on February 24, he gave Ukraine access to SpaceX’s satellite-internet system Starlink, according to Bloomberg. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Elon for the contribution in a tweet from March 5. “I’m grateful to him for supporting Ukraine with words and deeds,” he wrote. Zelensky also said the pair “discussed possible space. projects.But I’ll talk about this after the war.”
Russia began an invasion on its neighboring country on Feb. 24 at the orders of Putin. The attacks have sent Ukraine and its capital city of Kyiv into crisis. Many Ukrainians stood up to defend their country in light of the attacks, and people all over the world spoke out against the attacks from Russia. U.S. President Joe Biden has ordered further economic sanctions be placed on the Russian government. Biden, however, has promised that the U.S. military forces will not be joining the conflict in Europe, but will continue to support Ukraine and NATO allies.
Numerous celebrities have also spoken out about the European conflict. Dancing With The Stars pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy documented his time in Ukraine after the invasion. He managed to escape and has since returned home to his family in the U.S. Sean Penn has also been in Ukraine to film a documentary about the conflict with Russia.