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THIS is the bizarre moment Vladimir Putin’s warlord pal Ramzan Kadyrov appears to send machine gun mounted Cybertrucks to Ukraine.

Chechen chief Kadyrov claims Elon Musk gifted him the modified Tesla but after the billionaire CEO shut down the remarks a feud erupted between the pair.

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Footage shows a pair of the huge, silver trucks supposedly racing towards the Ukrainian frontlines.

Soldiers can be seen riding in the back of the gun-toting Teslas before they park up and begin firing countless rounds from the mounted machine gun onboard.

They appear to be shooting down drones in the video.

The bizarre claim that the trucks are at the Ukrainian frontline are not backed up in the elaborate video.

The video, posted to Kadyrov’s Telegram, is followed up by a caption talking about how Russia is using Western-made equipment “against its own Western Ukronatists”.

Kadyrov, 47, made his intentions clear back in August about wanting to use the Cybertrucks in warfare.

The Chechen warlord has been a staunch supporter of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and even sent his fighters as part of the tyrant’s “special military operation”.

He said about the powerful Tesla: “It’s a truly invulnerable and fast machine. A manoeuvrable vehicle that reaches excellent speeds and overcomes obstacles.

“Based on these excellent characteristics, the Cybertruck will soon be sent to the Special Military Operation (SMO) zone, where it will be in demand in the appropriate conditions.

“I am confident this ‘beast’ will be of great benefit to our fighters.”

He even flaunted a new Tesla Cybertruck which he claims to have received from Musk last month.

Video shows him driving around in the huge motor and even operating a machine gun that he attached to the back of it.

Kadyrov said he “fell in love” with the motor and described the Tesla as a “Cyberbeast” as he thanked Musk for the present.

Musk quickly denied donating the truck to Kadyrov blasting it as “lies” via X.

The back and forth soon sparked a fierce rivalry between the two power hungry men.

Days after the initial social media spat the Chechen leader accused the US billionaire of remotely disabling the Cybertruck.

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Telegram

Reuters

On Telegram, Kadyrov posted: “Elon Musk acted ugly.

“He gives expensive gifts from the heart, and then remotely turns them off.

“This is not manly.”

Despite the claims of the Cybertruck’s being deployed to a warzone military analysts have labelled the idea a publicity stunt as Putin continues to fight with Ukraine.

The Russian tyrant launched his invasion of Ukraine back in February 2022 with him expecting to steamroll the much smaller state in days.

But now more than 900 days later Putin’s forces remain bogged down and stuck in a fierce battle for territory.

Ukraine and Russia are locked in a brutal war of attrition – but Putin has a seemingly endless supply of manpower and weapons.

Vlad has lost more than 630,000 troops and more than 10,000 armoured vehicles – yet his war machine grinds on.

Ukraine seized a huge swath of Kursk in recent month but Russia is feared to be making gains elsewhere.

Kyiv continues to call for more Western support, with the defeat of Ukraine meaning Russia would be right on Nato’s doorstep.

And it feared Putin would seek to seize more territory from former Soviet states as he dreams of building a new Russian empire.

Who is Ramzan Kadyrov?

VLADIMIR Putin's Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov has been a staunch supporter of the war in Ukraine.

The former separatist rebel fought against the Russians in the First Chechen War, only to change sides and join Moscow in the second conflict in 1999.

Human rights groups say he personally oversees the torture of political opponents in secret dungeons and runs death squads known as “Kadyrovites”.

Ramzan Kadyrov was born in Chechnya in 1976, and like many men of his generation has lived a life largely defined by two brutal wars that ripped through the republic in the 1990s and 2000s.

In the first Chechen war of 1994 to 1996, he fought alongside his father, Akhmad Kadyrov, for the Chechen separatist cause.

But in 1999, after Mr Putin launched the second Chechen war to restore Russian control over the break away republic, the Kadyrovs changed sides.

Akhmad was subsequently installed as the pro-Russian president of the republic.

When he was assassinated in 2004, the baton of pro-Russian leadership passed to his stocky son.

The tracksuit wearing bodybuilder was not an obvious politician after being backed by Putin, he quickly become one of the most powerful men in Russia.

But as he has grown more powerful, he has become an increasingly divisive figure in Russian politics.

To supporters, he is a Russian patriot who has brought peace to a war ravaged region, presided over unprecedented post-war recovery and reconstruction.

To his enemies  he is a turn-coat rebel who has turned Chechnya into his personal fiefdom where Russian law doesn’t apply, and who has used terror and murder to crush not only the separatist Islamist insurgency, but political rivals, human rights activists, and domestic dissenters.

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BOOKMAKERS reckon Ange Postecoglou’s hostile welcome back to Ibrox could be SILENCED.

His Tottenham side were drawn to meet Rangers in the League phase of the new-look Europa League in December.

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And the former Celtic boss laughed he was “sure to get a warm reception at Ibrox and they’ll look forward to seeing me.”

But betting markets say the Aussie rival’s return could be OFF – with another shocking twist for Celtic too.

The Spurs gaffer has come under scrutiny since the start of the season, and was interrogated over a quip about delivering a trophy this term.

After losing Sunday’s north London derby to Arsenal he’d said : “I always win things in my second year. Nothing’s changed.”

And he defended himself midweek, adding: “I just stated a fact. Am I supposed to just lie or just say it never happened? Do you really think it’s me sort of boasting?

“It’s just confusing to me. I’ve just said something that’s true, and it seems like it’s upset a lot of people for some reason.”

Postecoglou landed the treble in his second season at Celtic – but bookies don’t reckon he’ll be given the campaign to get things right.

Infact they reckon he’s odds-on to be axed by Christmas and ever shorter to go before the end of the current campaign.

And that’s a worry for Celtic fans currently flying high after seeing Slovan Bratislava put to the sword so convincingly on Wednesday.

Gambling site sportscasting.com/uk reckon he’s 8/11 likely to go before Christmas – placing his Ibrox trip on December 12 in serious doubt.

They price Postecoglou at just 2/5 to be sacked before the summer.

The worry for Celtic is however, that the man tipped to replace him and make a similar move south that Postecoglou did last year – is current boss Brendan Rodgers.

The Hoops support were left reeling when he upped sticks and joined Leicester in 2019 and the bookies think he could do it again.

He’s 5/1 favourite to take over and spokesman Andy Newton said: “The new Premier League season is only a handful of games in but already there is mounting pressure on Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou after a very average start.

“Postecoglou had promised big things over his second season at the North London club, but he’s already on the back foot with just one league win so far and with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy no stranger to culling his managers.

“I’m not surprised to see Ange odds-on to be gone by Christmas.

“If so, there has been a lot of talk about Brendan Rodgers joining Spurs in the past and they could finally get their man – if, of course, the compensation to Celtic is enough to let their highest ever paid manager leave the Scottish giants.”

Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page

HEZBOLLAH has launched 150 rockets at northern Israel in a chilling revenge blitz – with one blasting a playground.

The Iran-backed militant group had come under fire from intense Israeli airstrikes overnight in the biggest warplane attacks of the conflict so far.

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Three separate Hezbollah rocket barrages were recorded today with the first being made up of over 60 missiles.

Minutes later the biggest collection of rockets was let off from Lebanon with 70 being reported by the IDF.

Another 20 were then reportedly launched at the Mount Meron region in Israel.

Israeli police confirmed one person has suffered minor injures so far.

The IDF announced that “some” of the rockets had been intercepted by their impressive Iron Dome.

Several of the missiles were able to breach the Israeli defence system with billowing smoke seen rising across northern Israel.

Images show a children’s playground near the city of Safed on fire with a thick, black cloud soaring from it.

Air raid sirens were raised across the north after the first sightings were recorded with the Iran-backed militia saying it was targeting army sites.

The group announced they had fired towards Israel’s missile and artillery battalion at the Yoav barracks.

Air and missile defence headquarters in Kila and the air defence missile base in Beria was also hit.

Israeli-occupied Golan Heights was also targeted, they announced.

Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire across the Israeli-Lebanon border in parallel with the war Israel has waged in Gaza against Hamas after October 7.

Israel’s bombing of hundreds of targets overnight cl;aimed to have destroyed 100 rocket launchers and around 1,000 launch barrels in the strikes.

Black and white footage posted to social media showed the country blowing up targets.

Tens of thousands of people have had to flee the border area on both sides.

Hezbollah have reportedly killed 26 civilians and 20 soldiers and forced another 80,000 Israelis to head south to escape the blitz in recent weeks.

Netanyahu vowed on Wednesday to return the evacuated Israelis “securely to their homes”.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant declared the start of a “new phase” of war as the country’s army moved north.

The announcement paves the way for the first full-scale invasion of southern Lebanon since 2006 in a drive to push back the terror group and allow Israelis to return home.

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EAMON DUNPHY has taken aim at Heimir Hallgrimsson once again – this time for his absenteeism in last week’s footballing fixtures.

Hallgrimsson spent his summer scouting domestically, as he plans to use the January internationals to run the rule over League of Ireland players.

He is keen on creating a route for domestic players into the Ireland set-up, citing how he did the same with Iceland, who played out-of-season internationals.

The Icelander did not attend any games in the UK, Ireland nor abroad last weekend.

57-year-old instead chose to scout players from afar using the Wyscout website.

While the remote scouting service affords modern coaches a level of data unimaginable to bosses in days gone by, it has also earned its fair share of critics – one being long-time media vet Eamon Dunphy.

Writing in his column for the Irish Mirrior, he said: “The problem is that he isn’t going to games where he can assess players that can play for Ireland.

“Even the most blinkered League of Ireland fan would struggle to make a case for any of the Bohs, Sligo, Galway or Derry players.

“John O’Shea and Paddy McCarthy effectively picked his first squad as he wasn’t familiar enough with the players.

“That makes it all the harder to understand the nonsense of not trying to improve his knowledge by going to games.

“If I was Minister for Sport, and the FAI came looking to me for money, I’d tell them I had one question – where was Hallgrímsson last weekend?

“No matter how impressive their PowerPoint presentation, no matter how much corporate jargon they used, that goes to the core of the current FAI.

“Eventually the penny dropped that having an absentee CEO was a bad look. Now they’ve landed us with an absentee manager. It’s a joke, but nobody’s laughing.”

It’s not the first time Dunphy has locked eyes with Heimir this month.

Last week he demanded Hallgrimsson be SACKED as Ireland boss after two disheartening home defeats to England and Greece.

Both 2-0 losses mean the Boys in Green have lost four consecutive home competitive matches for the very first time.

However, only time will tell if the Iceland native is right to be resolute in placing faith in his old scouting system.

THE eye-watering €336,000 bike shed at Leinster House has been blasted as an “utter waste of taxpayers money” by Sinn Fein.

Officials from the Office of Public Works have been ordered to appear before the Public Accounts Committee next month to be grilled over the ridiculous spend that caused public outrage.

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Sinn Fein spokesperson on Public Expenditure and Reform, Rose Conway-Walsh TD said the money spent also shows “how out of touch” the government is with “the reality of everyday living costs for the rest of our citizens”.

She added: “The public are rightly appalled that this government has stood over the colossal cost for construction of a very basic bicycle shed.”

The 18-rack bike shed features a number of steel barriers, plate glass covering and regular U-lock type stands that could fit 36 bikes.

The OPW defended the spend by claiming that “high quality materials and finish” were required to keep to the character of the historic setting.

But one bike shed manufacturer previously told us that they could have supplied the Dail with a fully enclosed 18-cycle shed for just €13,000.

Teachta Conway-Walsh said that before the Oireachtas rose for the summer, she requested that the chair of the OPW went before the Joint Oireachtas Finance Committee to discuss “a number of issues” relating to public works and expenditure. 
 
She said: “Since then, the revelations around the cost of the Leinster House bike shelter have proven just how important such a session would be.

“People are rightly concerned about what this matter says about accountability for public money.”

Conway-Walsh said is it “crucial” that the Finance Committee take the opportunity on Wednesday September 25 to discuss the construction of the bike shed.

She said: “It is particularly galling for people in rural Ireland who beg for bus shelters to shield them from the wind and the rain. 

“They feel badly let down by this government’s total failure to provide basic infrastructure.

“Fine Gael like to claim that they are fiscally prudent. However, time and time again this is exposed as mere spin and bluster as they oversee major misspending of public money.

“They have not only built the most expensive bike shed in the world but are also building the most expensive hospital in the world.”

She added: “Sinn Fein is on the side of ordinary people who are struggling to make ends meet. 

“That’s why we have brought forward policies to cut the cost of housing and childcare – measures which will make a real difference to people’s lives.

“That is also why we are determined to ensure accountability for tax payers’ money, to ensure that there is transparency and people can have confidence in how their taxes are spent by government.”

CALLS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY

REVELATIONS about the €336,000 spent on a bike rack for Leinster House have sparked public outrage.

Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl described the saga as a “profound embarrassment” at the resumption of the Dail on Monday.

The Office of Public Works has been asked to appear before the Oireachtas PAC next month to answer questions about the shed.

The meeting, scheduled for October 10, will see members of PAC seek a briefing on the costs associated with the bike shelter.

Sinn Fein’s Brian Stanley, who is the chair of the committee, said it would also request all documentation related to the contract.

This includes a timeline for the concept to delivery and value-for-money report.

He said: “We’re agreeing to schedule a meeting with the OPW on the 10th of October, and we’re doing it on that date, because there is a report to come from The [Comptroller and Auditor General] within a couple of weeks, hopefully on this, which will have information on this matter.”

The demand for accountability over the bike shed spend was also heard in the Dail yesterday where Aontu leader Peadar Toibin claimed this was just one in a series of overspends by government departments.

He said: “I think that the Gucci bike shed we see is a microcosm of the Loreal attitude of this government that ‘we are worth it’. And again what is going to be the accountability?

“Lessons will be learned and a report will be published just when everybody else has moved on.

“The question I am asking is when are we going to have individual responsibility?

‘REALLY POOR MANAGEMENT’

“When will there be a cost for the decisions that are made such as this that cost the country so much?

“Who signed off on the government bike shed and what rank were they within the OPW?”

Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien agreed with Deputy Toibin’s calls for accountability and transparency on the spend which he labelled “really poor management”.

Minister O’Brien said: “I cannot give you an answer directly in relation to that one particular example which you’ve raised as to who sanctioned it but I expect to hear that and we should know that.

“We should also know what process was followed and how in god’s name someone thought to spend €336,000 on a bike rack would be something that would be permissible.