Aug 17 (Reuters) - The leader of Russia's Chechnya

region, Ramzan Kadyrov, published a video on Saturday of himself

driving a Tesla Cybertruck with what looked like a

machinegun mounted on top, saying he would send it to the

Ukraine conflict zone.

Kadyrov, known for extravagant publicity stunts, heaped

praise on both the vehicle and Tesla Motors chief executive Elon

Musk on the Telegram messaging app, calling him the "strongest

genius of modern times" and inviting Musk to Chechnya.

"We... await your future products that will help us finish

the special military operation," Kadyrov wrote, using the

official term by which Russia describes its war in Ukraine.

There was no immediate comment from Tesla.