Elon Musk challenges Vladimir Putin for ‘single combat’, says ‘stakes are Ukraine’

American billionaire businessman and the CEO of electric vehicle manufacturing company Tesla, Elon Musk has challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin for a “single combat” over Russia’s ongoing military offensive on Ukraine.

In a series of tweets in Russian, the founder of aerospace company SpaceX said, “I hereby challenge Vladimir Putin to a single combat,” adding, “stakes are Ukraine”.

The Tesla CEO further asked whether Putin “accepts this fight” and tagged the Kremlin in the post.

The tweets from Musk have evoked a sharp response from millions of his followers on Twitter with many asking him whether he has ”seriously” thought about challenging the Russian President, a trained ex-KGB chief and a black belt holder in Judo-Karate.

Replying to those tweets, the 50-year-old businessman said, “absolutely serious”. However, there has been no response from the Kremlin to Musk’s tweet.

It may be noted that the Russian troops have launched a full-blown military invasion against Ukraine on February 27. The war is now in its third week. Musk has been offering support to Ukraine through the micro-blogging site.

Elon Musk has provided internet facilities to Ukraine after the network connectivity was disrupted due to the military operation by Russia. Tesla’s Starlink internet terminals were shipped to the war-hit zone after Mykhailo Fedorov, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, had sought help.

The SpaceX boss had donated 50 satellite terminals to restore internet in Tonga earlier this year.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday said that the Russia-Ukraine war will have ‘no winners’ and ‘only losers’ and warned that a resulting meltdown of the global economy is provoking a hunger crisis that is hitting the poorest, hardest.

While announcing the release of a further USD 40 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to ramp up vital assistance, he noted that with each passing hour in Ukraine, the death and destruction is getting worse.