#Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has accused Tesla CEO Elon Musk of “remotely disabling” his #Cybertruck, which had been sent to the frontline of Russia’s war in #Ukraine.

Kadyrov claimed Thursday that the vehicle, which he said had been outfitted with a machine gun and was “performing well in combat,” had been shut down, adding Friday that he had sent two additional Tesla Cybertrucks to the frontline.

The Chechen warlord, known for his loyalty to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his active involvement in Russia’s ongoing military operations in #Ukraine, shared footage of himself in August driving a Cybertruck and claimed it was a gift from Musk. In the video, a smiling Kadyrov was shown driving through an empty square in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, and thanking Musk for the vehicle “soon to be sent to the front.”

Musk, however, firmly denied sending it. “Are you seriously so retarded that you think I donated a Cybertruck to a Russian general?” he wrote at the time on X, the social media platform he owns.

#Russia pounds #Ukrainian energy, military-industrial sites in precision strikes over week
Russian forces gained advantageous positions and repulsed 23 Ukrainian army counterattacks in the #Donetsk area where the enemy lost over 3,000 troops and three tanks in the past week, the Defense Ministry reported

Wars threaten #US interests in #Africa, report says. #China and #Russia could still be the biggest rivals of American interests especially in Africa, a public assessment of threats to #Washington shows.

The report compiled by the American intelligence community names the expected enemies: #China, #Russia, #Iran and #North #Korea. But it also lists Houthis and the conflict in #Gaza among threats to watch out.

The 2024 Annual Threat Assessment report published last week is a summation of threats seen from January to date, which means it reflects the most recent incidents on global scale like the Israel-Hamas war, Russia-Ukraine war, Sudan war as well as trouble in the Red Sea.

The US further identified Africa’s vulnerability to terrorism as a threat to its own interests.

The #EU is grappling with the tricky issue of what to do with €70m it earmarked for the Nigerien army before the West African state was taken over by a military junta last year. Italy seems willing to work with Sahelian juntas, to the dismay of some other member states

#Equatorial #Guinea, #Teodorin Obiang Nguema extends power grab of oil and gas sector. AFP After asserting his authority over the hydrocarbons ministry and the state-owned #GEPetrol, the vice president has now installed his allies at the helm of Sonagas.