Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired back at tech extraordinaire Elon Musk after he asked Twitter users to give their two cents on Russia’s war.
After the Tesla CEO boldly posted a “Yes, No” survey on his Twitter feed — which included his own ideas for how to end the impasse in Eastern Europe — Zelensky created a Twitter poll of his own in response to Musk’s.
Musk on Monday called for a “redo” of “elections of annexed regions under UN supervision” and asked followers to vote “yes” or “no” to formally allowing Russia to annex Crimea.
And on Tuesday morning, Twitter users woke up to Zelensky’s very own poll which asked his 6.6 million followers about their thoughts on Musk.
“Which @elonmusk do you like more?” Zelensky tweeted, asking the masses to vote either for Musk, who supports Ukraine, or Musk who supports Russia.
Musk’s Monday Twitter antics saw him suggest that Crimea, which Moscow seized in 2014, be formally recognized as Russia, that water supply to Crimea be assured, and that Ukraine remain neutral. He asked Twitter users to vote yes or no to his idea.
“Russia leaves if that is [the] will of the people,” the world’s richest man tweeted.
But his poll wasn’t a hit with all, as Ukrainian diplomat Andrij Melnyk simply responded, “F— off is my very diplomatic reply.”
Musk then waded into the controversial issue of the future of Crimea, calling for the region to become “formally part of Russia, as it has been since 1783 (until Khrushchev’s mistake).”
The tech mogul made reference to the late Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev’s decision in 1954 to “gift” the people of Ukraine the Crimea region in order to mark the 300th anniversary of Ukraine’s merger with the Russian empire.
Historians say that Khrushchev’s “gift” was designed to consolidate Soviet control over Ukraine since it brought a larger number of ethnic Russians living in Crimea into the Soviet republic.
Musk also proposed that “water supply to Crimea [be] assured” and that “Ukraine remains neutral.”
[Written in collaboration with other media outlets with information from the following sources]
