Elon Musk took to X on October 2 to make some pointed commentary about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a meme.
The meme, depicting Zelensky straining himself, is captioned with the phrase, “When it’s been 5 minutes and you haven’t asked for a billion dollars in aid:”
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 1, 2023
Since making the tweet, #ElonMuskIsATraitor has been trending on X, along with #ZelenskyyWarHero.
Musk’s comments were not well received by everyone, as Ukrainian Parliamentary speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk returned Musk’s jab.
Stefanchuk responded, “The case when a dude @elonmusk tried to conquer space, but something went wrong and in 5 minutes he was up to his eyeballs in s•••."
The case when a dude @elonmusk tried to conquer space, but something went wrong and in 5 minutes he was up to his eyeballs in shit. https://t.co/4SW9dJNJvt
— Ruslan Stefanchuk (@r_stefanchuk) October 2, 2023
Elon Musk’s role in the Russia-Ukraine War
Elon Musk has been accused of preventing Ukraine from making successful military moves, and extending the war in Russia on several occasions.
A book entitled Elon Musk, by Steve Jobs author Walter Isaacson, alleges that Musk Prevented a Ukrainian attack on Russian naval forces in Crimea, according to an article by The Jerusalem Post in September.
Musk had allegedly ordered the service to be cut from the Crimean coast in 2022 specifically to disable Ukrainian submarine drones armed with explosive devices as they closed in on the Russian fleet.
Musk has also refused Ukraine’s requests to use his Starlink satellite, according to another report by the Post.
However, the Musk-Zelensky tension may have risen long before the actions taken by Musk, as the two got into a squabble in October 2022 on Twitter.
In a Tweet starting with the words "Ukraine-Russia Peace:" Musk called on Ukraine to redo the annexation elections in the Donbas under UN supervision, leave Crimea formally as part of Russia, assure the water supply to Crimea and remain neutral. The tweet also had a poll with the options of "Yes" and "No."
Ukraine-Russia Peace:- Redo elections of annexed regions under UN supervision. Russia leaves if that is will of the people.- Crimea formally part of Russia, as it has been since 1783 (until Khrushchev’s mistake).- Water supply to Crimea assured.- Ukraine remains neutral.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 3, 2022
"This is highly likely to be the outcome in the end – just a question of how many die before then," tweeted Musk. "Also worth noting that a possible, albeit unlikely, outcome from this conflict is nuclear war."
In another tweet on the subject published shortly afterward, Musk published another "Yes or No" poll, writing "Let’s try this then: the will of the people who live in the Donbas & Crimea should decide whether they’re part of Russia or Ukraine."
Zelensky returned the sentiment, tweeting his own poll "Which @elonmusk do you like more?" with the options "one who supports Ukraine" and "one who supports Russia."
Which @elonmusk do you like more?
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 3, 2022
SAM HALPERN and TZVI JOFFRE contributed to this report.