Ever wondered what would happen if a Bond villain met a tech billionaire? Well, this bizarre saga between Ramzan Kadyrov (Chechen warlord and Putin’s loyal thug) and Elon Musk (aka the real-life Tony Stark) might be the closest we’ll get. The absurdity? Kadyrov claims Musk gifted him a Tesla Cybertruck, installed a machine gun, and then Musk remotely shut it down. Spoiler alert: Musk denies the whole thing, but the story only gets weirder from here.

Kadyrov, who is the leader of the Chechen Republic and often plays up his image in over-the-top propaganda videos, posted footage to Telegram in August 2024 of driving a Cybertruck around his palace grounds. He claimed it was a gift from Elon Musk. He also praised Musk for the vehicle, saying he “literally fell in love” with the “real invulnerable and fast animal.” The truck had a machine gun mounted on the back, which Kadyrov had installed himself.

“We received a Tesla Cybertruck from the respected Elon Musk. I was happy to test the new equipment and personally saw that there’s a reason that it is called the ‘Cyberbeast.’” The Chechen leader explained the Cybertruck would be sent to the Ukrainian frontlines to support Russian forces.

Then came the twist: Kadyrov later accused Musk of shut down the vehicle while it was on the battlefield. “So, Musk recently remotely disabled the Cybertruck,” Kadyrov wrote on Telegram. “It’s not manly. The iron horse had to be towed. How come, Elon? Is this how it is done?” His rant continued: “Elon Musk behaved badly…He gives expensive gifts from the bottom of his heart and then remotely switches them off.”

When a journalist posted the story on X (formerly Twitter), Musk fired back. “You think I donated a Cybertruck to a Russian general? That’s amazing ??.” Musk flatly denied any involvement in sending the truck and used the opportunity to call out “how much the legacy media lies.”

Kadyrov, undeterred, posted another video showing two more Cybertrucks supposedly being sent to Ukraine, complete with machine guns mounted. He claimed, “The remote shutdown did not affect these vehicles. They are operating normally, without any failures” (via Telegram).

While the idea of Musk remotely disabling the truck is clearly absurd, it does raise legitimate questions about the future of warfare. Military analysts are already skeptical of electric vehicles in combat zones, as TechSpot pointed out: “There are no Tesla outlets on the front lines in Donbas.” Even without Musk’s alleged intervention, the use of EVs in war brings challenges—like where to charge them.

As ridiculous as this whole situation sounds, it makes you wonder—what happens when the cars of tomorrow are smarter than the people driving them? Kadyrov’s Cybertruck might not have been remotely shut down by Musk, but the day is coming when automakers or even hackers could disable vehicles in a heartbeat. Will automakers be able to power down vehicles commandeered by terrorists? Will our enemies be able to switch off our entire military fleet?

While we wait for answers, you can see the Cybertruck, ready for the next Bond film, in the video below: