Elon Musk Challenges Putin to a Fight

The winner of said challenge gets ... Ukraine, according to Musk
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 14, 2022 12:12 PM CDT
Elon Musk Challenges Putin to a Fight
Elon Musk is seen Feb. 10, 2022, near Brownsville, Texas.   (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald via AP, File)

We didn't think we'd be entering the workweek taking bets on who would win in a hand-to-hand fight between Elon Musk and Vladimir Putin, but here we are. That battle actually happening seems unlikely, but the challenge has been issued, with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO daring the Russian president and current invader of Ukraine to take him on, reports Fox Business. "I hereby challenge [Vladimir Putin] to single combat," Musk tweeted Monday morning, using the Cyrillic version of Putin's name. He added, using more Cyrillic: "Stakes are [Ukraine]."

When he hadn't heard back from Putin within the hour, Musk pushed a little more, tagging the Kremlin and asking in Russian, "Do you agree to this fight?" It's not clear if Putin got these messages, or how willing he is to duke it out with Musk, but Dmitry Rogozin, head of Russia's Roscosmos space agency, is apparently itching to fight. "You, little devil, are still young," Rogozin wrote in response to Musk. "Compete with me [weakling]; It would only be a waste of time."

Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov—who pressured Musk last month to help Ukraine out by supplying the nation with SpaceX Starlink terminals to help mitigate internet issues—rushed to Musk's defense. "I am sure that @elonmusk can send Putin to Jupiter," Fedorov tweeted, adding a link to a site supposedly set up to raise money to fund a rocket that would do just that. The proceeds are actually earmarked to go toward rebuilding Ukraine's damaged infrastructure, per Fox. (More Elon Musk stories.)

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