A senior Russian lawmaker said the country’s Foreign Ministry had received an application for political asylum from billionaire Elon Musk. However, the information is causing much skepticism, with experts saying it could be a “joke” or a mistake.

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Vladislav Davankov, Deputy Speaker of the State Duma (lower house of the Russian parliament) from the New People party, said yesterday (June 20) at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that the Russian Foreign Ministry had allegedly received an application for political asylum from American billionaire Elon Musk.

However, this information is raising significant doubts about its authenticity.

In an interview, Ukrainian political analyst Ihor Reiterovych commented: “I think this is absolutely absurd. Yes, Musk is an eccentric and unique person, but I do not believe that if he left the United States, he would go to Russia.” Reiterovych noted

that Elon Musk, as an American billionaire, would not have any difficulty moving to any other country in the world.

“Maybe, by the way, they (the Russians) just confused something with his father, who recently visited Russia. His name is Errol Musk — the names are very similar, and if you don’t pay close attention, it’s easy to get confused,” the expert suggested.

At the same time, he reiterated that if this statement was indeed about Elon Musk, it would seem like “another bit of nonsense being spread by the Russians.”

“Because it’s very difficult to imagine it. And let’s put it this way: even if we assume for a second that Elon Musk decided to do something like this, I think the only person who would be most strongly opposed to it — and the one who would be most affected by it — is US President Donald Trump. So it’s absolutely unlikely that Musk would even be allowed to do such a thing,” he concluded.

The Russian statement comes amid a public and bitter feud that erupted earlier this month between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump.

The two began trading barbs after Musk was removed as one of Trump’s closest advisers — a move that was seen as a sign of the demise of one of the most influential political alliances in modern America. The

SpaceX and Tesla Inc. owner called the president’s tax and spending bill “disgusting,” while Trump expressed his disappointment in his former mentor, calling him “crazy.”

In response, Musk, who spent hundreds of millions of dollars supporting Trump’s campaign in last year’s election, quickly fired back on social media, saying the president was ungrateful and wouldn’t be in the White House without his support.

Amid the clash, Mr. Trump said the easiest way to save money in the federal budget would be to cut government contracts with companies owned by Musk. That same day, Tesla shares fell 14%, and the company’s market capitalization fell by more than $150 billion—the largest single-day loss in Tesla’s history.

However, on the morning of June 11, Musk publicly backed down, admitting that he had gone too far with his scathing tweets about Mr. Trump.

The fact that Russian officials have made unverified claims about granting Elon Musk asylum also suggests that they are closely monitoring and may be looking to exploit the internal conflicts in American politics and technology.