Mr. Errol Musk said his family admired the Russian leader for his calm leadership style and logical speeches.

Errol Musk, father of billionaire Elon Musk. Photo: Getty.

Errol Musk said his son Elon Musk and his family admire Russian President Vladimir Putin. Speaking to the BBC in an interview, the billionaire’s father described President Putin as a “strong leader” and praised his speeches as logical.

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, is also the head of the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the Trump administration, overseeing efforts to streamline government operations and cut inefficiencies.

Errol said he believed his family was “impressed” by the Russian leader. “It would be foolish not to admire him because he is so calm,” he added. He said he listened to every speech Putin made and believed he said “reasonable things”, noting that his views were based on personal observations and not on politics.

“If you judge him as a real man, I’m not talking about relations between countries or anything like that…to me, he’s a strong leader,” Musk said.

When the interviewer claimed that Putin “started the war in Ukraine,” Musk pushed back, saying that only time would tell who actually started the conflict.

However, he defended his son’s stance. “What he did when the war started, he immediately gave Starlink to Ukraine,” he said. “But the war is not over, it’s still going on.”

The Tesla CEO emphasized the network’s crucial role in protecting Ukraine, asserting that “the whole front line would collapse” without it. However, he has expressed concern that continued Western support for Ukraine could escalate the conflict into a broader global conflict, possibly even World War III. Elon Musk has always favored a diplomatic solution over prolonged military involvement.

Elon Musk’s father has quoted his son as saying the ongoing conflict is “the greatest corruption machine in human history.” Elon Musk’s views have drawn criticism from Kiev and its supporters, particularly when he suggested that peace talks could require Ukraine to make territorial concessions, a stance the government sees as an attempt to appease Russia.

More recently, Elon Musk stirred up further controversy by claiming that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is “despised by the Ukrainian people,” echoing previous criticisms of Donald Trump.