Kalashnikov's release of an electric concept car on Thursday — which it claimed would compete with Elon Musk's Tesla brand — sparked a flurry of meme activity on Russian social media.
Elon Musk has featured as a central character in the world of Russian memes ever since his company, SpaceX, launched a red Tesla car into space last February.
Not to be outdone by Musk's high-tech feat, Russians offered their own examples of ingenuity peculiar to the country (and poking fun at its problems), tagging their posts with the challenge: "How do you like that, Elon Musk?"
Kalashnikov's bold claim on Thursday that its new car could compete with Musk's Tesla seemed to have been tailor-made for the meme craze.
Here is a selection of our favorites below:
"Kalashnikov just released an electric car that will compete with Tesla. Let's go!"
"How do you like that, Elon Musk?"
"My neighbor bought himself a domestically-produced electric car."
This meme imagines Kalashnikov's new electric car flying out in space like Musk's Tesla in February.
"Musk is gutted."
"Kalashnikov, I await your job offers," says a user who suggested adding Christian icons to the displays of the new Kalashnikov cars.
