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The family of tech billionaire Elon Musk admires Russian President Vladimir Putin on a personal level, despite his reputation as a warmonger in the West, Musk’s father said in an interview published Thursday.
“As a family… we are a little bit in awe of Mr. Putin,” Errol Musk told the BBC’s Russian service in a video call from his home in Cape Town, South Africa.
Errol Musk, 79, said his views of Putin are shaped by “one man to another,” not politics. He also questioned the narrative that Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, saying he believed the truth would come out “in time,” according to the BBC.
His comments follow Elon Musk’s own shift from early support for Ukraine — including providing Starlink satellite internet — to criticizing Kyiv for its dependence on U.S. military aid. Musk has also drawn backlash for suggesting Ukraine should give up territory in exchange for peace.
According to his father, Musk recently complained that the war was plagued by “corruption, theft and fraud.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has acknowledged corruption issues but insists most U.S. defense aid reaches the front line, where it is badly needed.
In October, the Wall Street Journal reported that Musk held secret talks with Putin throughout the war in Ukraine as his personal views on the conflict evolved. The conversations were said to have addressed business and geopolitical tensions.
At the same time, Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s special envoy for international economic and investment cooperation, said last month that he planned to discuss Mars exploration with Musk “soon.” Dmitriev visited Washington D.C. this week for talks with Trump administration officials.
