Elon Musk Jokes He May ‘Die Under Mysterious Circumstances’ In Cryptic Tweet After Criticizing Russia
A top Russian official has apparently threatened the world’s richest man after accusing him of supporting “Nazi” Ukrainian forces.
Elon Musk is joking about his mortality as he continues to beef with top Russian government officials amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The world’s richest man and imminent owner of Twitter, who previously offered to physically fight for Ukraine against Russian President Vladimir Putin, sent the internet ablaze when he posted, “If I die under mysterious circumstances, it’s been nice knowin ya,” on Sunday night.
The New York Post notes that the foreboding tweet dropped shortly after Musk shared a contentious message from Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia’s space agency.
The pair sparred on social media before when Musk called out Putin, prompting Rogozin to call Musk a “little devil” who is “young and frail.”
According to a translation of the latest message posted by Musk, Rogozin is now accusing the SpaceX CEO of helping “fascist” Ukrainian forces by supplying of his Starlink internet satellites to the war-torn country in February.
Rogozin specifically cited the Azov Battalion—a national guard unit based in Mariupol—as a “Nazi” force. Russia has repeatedly used the Azov Battalion as justification for its invasion of Ukraine in a “denazification” effort.
“From the testimony of the captured commander of the 35th Marine Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel Dmitry Kormyankov, it turns out that the internet terminals of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite company were delivered to the militants of the Nazi Azov Battalion and the Ukrainian Marines in Mariupol by military helicopters,” Rogozin wrote.
“According to our information, the delivery of the Starlink equipment was carried out by the Pentagon,” Rogozin wrote. “Elon Musk, thus, is involved in supplying the fascist forces in Ukraine with military communication equipment.”
Musk responded, “The word ‘Nazi’ doesn’t mean what he seems to think it does.”
The Post adds that in 2015, unit spokesman Andriy Diachenko told USA Today that up to 20 percent of its members are Nazis, but that the ideology “has nothing to do with the official ideology of the Azov.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish, has denied the claim that the battalion fosters Nazism.
“The Azov Regiment is not a volunteer (formation), but part of the National Guard,” Zelensky said, per Yahoo.
“They are (part of) the official army of our state. Anyone who wanted to get involved in politics (left the Azov Regiment). Those who decided to serve in the National Guard of Ukraine became part of the National Guard of Ukraine.”
Zelensky continued to say that even amid a war, there is little public support for extremist ideology in Ukraine.
“We have almost none, despite the fact that there is a war on,” he said, adding that Russia’s military actions in Ukraine are a form of Nazism.
“We are very serious about calls for extremism. And we prevent any such steps. We believe that what the Russian military is doing in our country is Nazism.”
Musk’s feud with Russian officials is just one of many current stories centered on the tech mogul. Others concern plans following his historic $44 billion buyout of Twitter.
Citing a report from the New York Times, Business Insider writes that Musk aims to hire thousands of new Twitter employees, quadruple its user base, and quintuple its revenue.
Musk wants to increase Twitter’s employee headcount from 7,500 to 11,072 by 2025, but not without letting go of hundreds of others.
“If Twitter acquisition completes, company will be super focused on hardcore software engineering, design, infosec & server hardware,” Musk tweeted.
“I strongly believe that all managers in a technical area must be technically excellent. Managers in software must write great software or it’s like being a cavalry captain who can’t ride a horse!”
Musk’s estimates also include a goal to increase the total number of Twitter users from 330 million 931 million, 109 million of which will be subscribed to a mysterious “Product X” that was named but not elaborated on in the Times’ report.
Ex-adult actress Lisa Ann hopes that Musk’s Twitter plans will also include the banning of X-rated content on the platform.
Ann, who garnered fame within the adult film industry for parodying former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, accused Twitter of being “the largest distributor of illegal content to minors” on her podcast The Lisa Ann Experience.
“Something I really hope Elon Musk takes a step ahead and says, ‘we’re not doing this anymore’, and if we are, you’ll have to enter in your birthday, there will have to be an ID situation, there will be levels to this shit, that’s what I’m hoping,” she said, per the Post.
Twitter is currently the only major social media platform that allows porn, though not in profile photos or live feeds. It must be marked by the poster as sensitive, which prompts viewers with a warning message.
Musk has previously said that he’s against censorship in a tweet explaining his advocacy of free speech.
“By ‘free speech,’ I simply mean that which matches the law. I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law. If people want less free speech, they will ask government to pass laws to that effect. Therefore, going beyond the law is contrary to the will of the people.”
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