Soon after Elon Musk ‘challenged’ Russian President Vladmir Putin to a mano-a-mano fight to secure Ukraine’s safety, the tech billionaire changed his name on Twitter to ‘Elona’, in response to backlash from Chechen Republic head Ramzan Kadyrov.

A day after Elon’s challenge to Putin, Kadyrov, who is a Kremlin ally, gave the former a piece of his mind:

“Elon Musk, a word of advice. Don’t measure your strength against that of Putin,” he wrote in a Telegram post. “Vladimir Vladimirovich will look unsportsmanlike when he beats the hell out of you, a much weaker opponent,” he said, using Vladimir Putin’s middle name.

He then encouraged Elon to get trained first, before calling him ‘effeminate.’

“You’ll need to pump up those muscles in order to change from the gentle (effeminate) Elona into the brutal Elon you need to be. I propose training at one of the several centers in the Chechen Republic,” he wrote, before listing off the Russian Special Forces University, the Akhmat Fight Club, and the Grozny Chechen State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, encouraging Elon to get schooled in firearms, hand-to-hand combat, and even what he calls ‘Black PR’.

Kadyrov’s somewhat homophobia-tainted message rings true with his country’s policies. Chechnya is notorious for its treatment of queer people, and the government has repeatedly proven that it supports the subjugation, abuse, and even honor killings of LGBT people.

Probably keeping this in mind, Elon chose to respond by accepting Kadyrov’s intended insult without complaint, signing off his final tweet with the name Elona, which he also added onto his username.

Elon’s mother Maye Musk shared a genderswapped photo of her ‘daughter’ Elona:

Followers also dropped in to share their jokes and comments:

Elon has been a strong supporter of independent Ukraine through the 2022 crisis, and has also provided the country under siege with his own Starlink terminals, designed to keep internet services running regardless of the ongoing invasion.

(Featured Image Credits: EPA)