Warlord’s machine-gun Cybertruck ‘cool’, but useless on battlefield, military expert says
- Putin-ally Ramzan Kadyrov claimed he would send the decked-out Tesla ‘Cyberbeast’ to Russian forces fighting in Ukraine
Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov sparked social media buzz this week after posting a video of himself driving a Tesla Cybertruck affixed with what appeared to be a machine gun on top.
But while the decked-out electric vehicle might look like something out of Star Wars – and may boast some features that could be useful in rugged terrain – the futuristic EV is likely to prove effectively useless on the actual battlefield, a military expert said.
“Where do you recharge this thing on the battlefield? There are no Tesla outlets on the front lines in the Donbas,” said Mark Cancian, a senior adviser on the International Security Programme at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies and retired US Marine Corps colonel.
In a Saturday Telegram post, Kadyrov celebrated the Cybertruck, saying he personally understood why it’s “rightfully called the Cyberbeast”.
Kadyrov, who is a long-time ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, also praised Tesla CEO Elon Musk, saying Chechnya received the Cybertruck from Musk himself – a claim the billionaire strongly denied on X, formerly Twitter.
Musk used an ableist slur to ask if a user actually believed he “donated a Cybertruck to a Russian general”.
