Before Tesla CEO Elon Musk was overseeing cuts and layoffs across the federal government, a European warlord allied with Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Musk of shutting down his machine-gun-mounted Cybertruck. Back on Aug. 17, four days after Musk endorsed then-former President Donald Trump following an assassination attempt, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov showed off the gun-mounted truck in a video shared on the social media platform Telegram, dubbed the “Cyberbeast.” “We received a Tesla Cybertruck from the respected Elon Musk,” Kadyrov wrote. “…I was happy to test the new technology and personally saw that it is not by chance that it is called the ‘Cyberbeast.’ A real invulnerable and fast animal.” The video shows Kadyrov driving the truck and at one point wearing a black hood and an ammo belt while standing behind the mounted gun.

Kadyrov added in the post that the truck would be used by Chechen soldiers fighting for Russia in its war against Ukraine. Responding to a journalist professor who shared the video on X, Musk used an ableist slur and denied giving a Cybertruck as a gift to the warlord. “Yet another example of how much the legacy media lies,” Musk added in a second post.

But a month later, on Sept. 19, Kadyrov wrote on Telegram that Musk “behaved badly” and remotely disabled the truck. “That’s not manly,” Kadyrov wrote. “How could you do that, Elon?” In the several months since, Musk has kept his attention on international politics, supporting Germany’s far-right AfD party and cheerleading DOGE’s efforts in making cuts within the United States government.

But his cuts and proposals have drawn the ire of many Americans, including former federal workers who supported Trump’s comeback. As well, Tesla has faced uncertainty in connection with its CEO, as sales and profits drop while Americans protest outside Tesla showrooms and cars and trucks have been vandalized, CNN reported. Despite this, Musk said the company’s future “is brighter than ever,” and defended DOGE.

“I think the right thing to do is fight the waste and fraud and try to get the country back on the right track,” Musk told investors in April. “If the ship of America goes down, Tesla will go with it.” Musk’s time at DOGE is expected to end in late May, due to his limited role as a “special government employee,” Politico reported in early April. He said he wanted to spend time focusing more on Tesla.