Elon Musk's pro-Russia polls on Twitter draw severe backlash from Zelenskyy & Ukrainians

SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who provided the war-torn country with Tesla's Powerwall energy-saving systems and other facilities related to the internet, drew backlash from Ukrainian officials for pitching a series of controversial polls on the microblogging site. In his latest tweet, he suggested the referendum on merging four Ukrainian regions in Russia should be conducted again under the supervision of the United Nations. Notably, he was pointing fingers at the recently concluded elections in Ukraine's Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Luhansk, wherein Moscow claimed the residents voted to merge with Russia-- a claim that the world leaders termed as "shams".

In another tweet, the Tesla CEO suggested making Crimea a "formal part" of Moscow, adding water supply to the region. Musk advised the Ukrainians to remain "neutral". However, a majority of respondents voted “No” in response to Musk’s poll. Subsequently, the world's richest man appeared to blame these results on a “bot attack.” On several occasions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed to recapture the regions captured by the Russian forces, especially Donetsk and Crimea. Zelenskyy stressed that Donetsk has always been one of the richest and strongest cities in Ukraine and mining has always been one of the most respected professions. "The proud and glorious Ukrainian Donetsk was humiliated by the Russian occupation and robbed. Russia brought the most terrible thing there – absolute disregard for the value of any life, absolute disrespect for anyone," he had said in August.  

Musk faces severe backlash from Ukrainians officials 

On Monday, the Ukrainian President also started a counter-poll on Twitter and asked his followers, “Which @elonmusk do you like more?” The options: “One who supports Ukraine” and “One who supports Russia”. Apart from the President, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, also criticised Musk and wrote, "F**k off is my very diplomatic reply to you @elonmusk". Besides, several Ukrainian media outlets started polls in response to Musk's suggestions, wherein the respondents poured their support into the war-torn nation.  However, this too did not stop Musk from starting another pro-Russia post on Twitter. He emphasised that there was little chance of victory for Ukraine as Russia announced partial mobilisation in order to support its forces in Ukraine. 

Image: AP