The world's richest man, Elon Musk, has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to a duel, the winner of which will decide the fate of Ukraine.
On Twitter, the founder of the SpaceX space company asked whether the Russian leader was ready to test his personal strength without relying on his country's armed forces.
"I challenge Vladimir Putin to a singles fight," Musk, 50, wrote on his page.
“Do you accept the challenge?” asked Musk, addressing his speech directly to the English-speaking account of 69-year-old President Putin.
When one of Musk's 77 million followers on Twitter commented that the founder of electric car company "Tesla" might not take this challenge seriously, the South African-born billionaire replied that he was "very serious."
"If Putin finds it easy to subdue the West, then let him accept the challenge," Musk said. "But he won't."
There has been no reaction from the Kremlin so far.
The idea of the fight - which may only be a joke - was welcomed by Ukrainian politicians, including the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, a former boxer.
Elon Musk had already announced his support for Ukraine, writing on Twitter: "Ukraine...stay strong," and at the same time expressed his sympathy for "the great Russian people who do not want that war."
Musk also responded to an appeal from Kyiv to activate the satellite Internet service "Starlink" in Ukraine, and to send equipment to support communications in areas exposed to Russian bombing.
On February 27, Musk announced the activation of Starlink's service in Ukraine, writing on Twitter, "Starlink services have started operating in Ukraine, and more stations are on the way to you."
The Starlink project operates a constellation of satellites - more than 2,000 satellites - with the aim of providing Internet services on Earth.
Elon Musk has been surprising on twitter. In February he accused the US stock market regulator - which has imposed fines and restrictions on Musk and Tesla - of trying to suppress his freedom of expression.
Musk had compared Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, in a message in which he wanted to support opponents of the Canadian government's measures taken to fight against Covid-19. But he later deleted the post.