Russia State Media Blames Twitter Trolls for Elon Musk Peace Deal Criticism

A Russian state media site suggested Monday that a lack of support for Tesla CEO Elon Musk's proposal for Russia-Ukraine peace terms was due to interference by a pro-Ukraine Twitter movement that it described as trolls.

Musk posted a poll on Twitter Monday that suggested recent referendums in occupied parts of Ukraine be redone under supervision by the United Nations, and that Russia should leave those territories if that is the "will of the people." It also said, among other suggestions, that Crimea should be "formally part of Russia." Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and has pushed for international recognition that it is part of its territory ever since, but Ukraine and Western countries have continued to assert that the peninsula is part of Ukraine.

As of 4:15 p.m. ET, 63.2 percent of the poll's more than 1,440,000 respondents had voted "no" on Musk's proposal, while 36.8 percent had voted "yes." But in an article on the poll on Monday, the Russian state-controlled news network and site RT stated that nearly 60 percent of respondents backed Musk's idea at its time of writing, though Newsweek was not able to confirm this.

The article suggested that the support ratio was "likely to change" due to pro-Ukrainian Twitter users who it alleged had called up NAFO (North Atlantic Fella Organization) "trolls," which DW reported is an internet army that works to counter Russian disinformation online amid the ongoing war, to "swing the poll in their favor." It also noted that Musk in a follow-up reply to his poll wrote: "The bot attack on this poll is strong!" Bots are automated accounts that can operate like human-controlled accounts

Musk attracted considerable criticism and mockery on the social media platform over his peace suggestions, with some saying that Russia's move to occupy parts of Ukraine was illegal from the start. Russian President Vladimir Putin last week proclaimed that four Ukrainian regions—Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson—would become part of Russia in an annexation international leaders have decried as illegitimate.

"Dear @elonmusk, when someone tries to steal the wheels of your Tesla, it doesn't make them legal owner of the car or of the wheels. Even though they claim both voted in favor of it. Just saying," Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda tweeted.

Russia claimed that residents of the four Ukrainian regions overwhelmingly voted in favor of joining, but U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan had warned that the results would be "manipulated."

Ukrainian diplomat Andrij Melnyk also hit back at Musk's poll in a tweet on Monday.

"F**k off is my very diplomatic reply to you @elonmusk," he tweeted.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted his own poll that asked: "Which @elonmusk do you like more?"

He gave two options, "one who supports Ukraine" and "one who supports Russia." As of 5 p.m. ET, 84.3 percent of respondents had chosen the first option.

Newsweek reached out to Musk via Tesla and Twitter for comment.