“How’s it going in Bachmut?”
Musk and Medvedev exchange blows
10/21/2022, 2:15 p.m
US billionaire Elon Musk wants to present the Russian ex-president Dmitry Medvedev on Twitter with a funny comment – but he counters unmoved. The result is a verbal skirmish, which in the end gives the Russian in particular a large audience. Musk brings harsh criticism.
The US tech billionaire Elon Musk exchanged blows with the former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Twitter, which has now spread widely on social media. The reason for this was British Prime Minister Liz Truss’s announcement of her resignation after only 44 days in office, which Medvedev commented with the words “Bye, bye” and “Congratulations on the salad”. The background is that the British newspaper “Daily Star” had bet that the shelf life of a head of lettuce would outlast Truss’s term as head of state.
Musk responded to the tweet by noting that Medvedev had tweeted a “pretty good troll” and then asked, “How’s it going in Bakhmut, by the way?” The allusion should obviously be understood as a provocation, because fierce fighting is currently raging in the city in Donetsk, Ukraine. Bakhmut is at the center of the slow-moving Russian advance in the region. Russian troops repeatedly bombard this and other places, according to Ukrainian sources. Phosphorus bombs are said to have been used.
Medvedev replied that they would see each other in Moscow on Victory Day. The former president is currently deputy secretary of Russia’s National Security Council and is known for being a hardliner. He is regarded as Putin’s cheerleader and the most important agitator. He repeatedly threatened Ukraine with nuclear strikes and demanded the destruction of the “terrorists” for the attacks on the Crimean bridge. He also wants to completely eliminate the political leadership of Ukraine, as he recently wrote on Telegram.
“Keeping Your 2 Cents To Yourself”
Finnish political scientist Minna Alander sharply criticized Musk’s reaction to Medvedev’s tweet, also on Twitter. “Whatever his brainwave was, it failed,” she wrote. It’s a good rule for accounts the size of Musk not to respond to comments from the Russian regime. In the end, he only gave Medvedev more audience. Alander also advised Musk to keep his “two cents on a possible end to the war” to himself.
Musk recently caused irritation after making several tweets suggesting how Russia and Ukraine could come to a ceasefire. In addition, he had indicated that he could not permanently finance the Starlink communications network used in Ukraine. Only after some public protests did he give in and declared that he would continue to support Ukraine.