Vladimir Putin 'won't survive' in the long term says Steele
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The SpaceX and Tesla CEO — who is known for his often controversial posts on social media — threw down the gauntlet to Putin on Twitter this morning. He wrote: “I hereby challenge Владимир Путин [Vladimir Putin] to single combat. Stakes are Україна [Ukraine].” Mr Musk followed up with a comment, completely in Russian, that was directed at the Russian President’s Twitter account which asked: “Do you agree to this fight?”
If, as an exercise in pure whimsy, one were to take Mr Musk’s challenge at face value for a moment, it is perhaps unclear who exactly would win in a fight between the billionaire and the Russian leader — beyond, of course, the audience.
Mr Musk, 50, has the benefit of relative youth on his side, with Putin’s 70th birthday looming in October this year.
The SpaceX CEO has also made claims in the past to exercise regularly, albeit with reluctance, and to having dabbled in various forms of martial arts, including Brazilian jiu-jitsu, judo, Kyokushin karate and taekwondo.
Putin, meanwhile, has reportedly been practising judo since the age of 11 and sambo, a Russian martial art, for almost as long and is said to have won competitions in both sports.
Putin is also the first Russian to be awarded the eighth dan of the black belt for judo in 2012 and has been granted an 8th dan black belt in the Kyokushin-kan form of karate.
As a result of his invasion of Ukraine, Putin was recently stripped by World Taekwondo of the honorary ninth-degree black belt they bestowed upon him back in 2019.
However, some commentators have suggested that the Russian president’s alleged martial arts prowess has been carefully stage-managed to play into the politician’s “macho” image.
One particularly vociferous critic is the journalist and martial arts enthusiast Benjamin Wittes, who predates Mr Musk in having challenged the Russian president to a fight.
On Twitter, Mr Wittes has said: “He’s a fake martial artist. I can take him any time.”
“I don’t like Putin’s chances against any trained fighter over whom he has no political power.”
“I will meet him any time and any place where he lacks the legal authority to have me locked up.”
On his blog, Mr Wittes has added that — in the videos he has seen — he has found no evidence that Putin’s sporting opponents are seriously trying to get the better of him, and that it appears they are taking falls to help the Russian president perform masculine prowess.
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Regardless of who would win in a fight between Mr Musk and Putin, it seems like part of the former’s grievance with the latter is connected to the increase in global commodity prices that have resulted from Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Musk tweeted: “Tesla and SpaceX are seeing significant recent inflation pressure in raw materials & logistics. And we are not alone.”
The billionaire followed these comments with a link to an article from the Financial Times, which noted that raw materials costs are on track to post their biggest weekly rise since at least the early seventies.
Russia is a leading global supplier of various commodities from oil and gas to grains.
While the sanctions imposed on Russia so far by Western nations have deliberately avoided targeting natural resources, many market participants are avoiding the nation’s exports for fear of legal or reputation risk — driving up demand for other sources.
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