Elon Musk asked to ‘turn off’ Teslas in Russia as he makes superchargers free for people fleeing Ukraine
Entrepreneur is one of just 22 Twitter accounts followed by Kremlin
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Elon Musk has been asked to “turn off” Teslas in Russia as he has made superchargers free for people fleeing Ukraine in electric vehicles.
The entrepreneur was inundated with requests from his Twitter followers to shut down his company’s electric vehicles in the country as Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine continues.
Mr Musk’s Twitter account is just one of 22 that is followed by the Kremlin’s own official account on the social media platform.
“Dear Elon Musk, can you deactivate all Teslas in Russia, please?” one Twitter user asked him.
And another user added: “(Elon Musk) maybe it’s time to disable all Teslas in Russia and Belarus?”
Meanwhile, Tesla owners fleeing Ukraine can use the company’s superchargers for free in four cities near the borders of Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, according to Electrek.
Tesla and non-Tesla electric vehicles can use the chargers without any cost in Trzebownisko, Poland; Košice, Slovakia; Miskolc, Hungary; and Debrecen, Hungary, an email to owners in the region stated.
Ukraine reportedly has around 30,000 electric cars on its roads, while the United Nations Refugee Agency estimates that around 660,000 refugees have fled the fighting in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.
Russia says nearly 500 of its soldiers killed and 1,600 injured fighting in Ukraine
Oleksandr Usyk insists he has ‘no fear’ after joining Ukraine’s military
Ukraine requests dogecoin donations as meme coin ‘exceeds Russian ruble’Sergei Lavrov says Russia would face a ‘real danger’ if Ukraine acquires nuclear weapons
The Independent is unable to reach out to Tesla for comment as Elon Musk shut down the company’s public relations department.
Last week Mr Musk announced that SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, which beam the internet down from space, were active over Ukraine after a request from the embattled country’s leadership to replace iservices destroyed by the Russian attack.
The invasion had left parts of the country being without internet, while SpaceX has launched thousands of communications satellites to bring broadband to hard to reach areas of the world. “Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route,” the entrepreneur tweeted on Saturday.
The move came after Ukraine’s vice prime minister urged Mr Musk to help them out, as the SpaceX system does not require any fibre-optic cables.
Users on the ground access the broadband signals beamed back to earth using a kit sold by SpaceX.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments