The Russian Embassy in South Africa has moved to distance the Russian government from media speculation surrounding Errol Musk’s recent visit to Russia and claims linked to the possible relocation of South African farmers. In a statement, Kirill Kalinin, the senior counsellor and spokesperson for the Russian Embassy in South Africa, said recent media commentary had generated “hype” around Musk’s proposals for future business engagements, with particular attention given to the idea of farmer relocation. Kalinin said the Russian government had no involvement in any such initiative.

“We would like to reiterate that the Russian government has nothing to do with this initiative and Mr Errol Musk did not approach the Russian Embassy in South Africa on this matter either,” he said. The embassy said early discussions with authorities in Vladimirskaya oblast, or the Vladimir region, were focused on potential agricultural cooperation rather than any state-backed relocation programme. The embassy described Vladimirskaya oblast as a region with significant agricultural potential and an active development programme.

Kalinin said the region had more than 50 large-scale agro-industrial projects under way, most of them focused on livestock and dairy farming. “No wonder that such an economic profile and sound mechanisms of support draw attention from investors abroad,” he said. The embassy framed any potential agreement as a private investment arrangement between interested parties.

Kalinin said Russia welcomed foreign investment from “friendly countries” and noted that many agricultural businesses in Russia included foreign participation. “Nowadays many agricultural businesses in Russia of various scale, large, medium and small, have a foreign component or are entirely run by foreign entrepreneurs in different regions, all across the country.” He said that if both parties reached agreement on a mutually beneficial project, Russia would treat it as a private-sector collaboration. Kalinin reaffirmed broader Russia–South Africa relations, describing the two countries as strategic partners.

He said Moscow valued ties with Pretoria and aimed to expand cooperation across trade, investment, new markets, value-added projects, business-to-business contact and people-to-people relations. “The relations between our nations are built on a solid foundation of mutual respect, sovereign equality and common interests,” he said. The embassy also criticised sections of media coverage, arguing that reporting had focused on sensationalism rather than substantive economic opportunities.

“It is a shame that instead of focusing on promising venues of economic development and on ways of how our countries can support each other, especially in today’s harsh global economic climate, certain media outlets prefer to swim in shallow waters, chasing sensationalist clickbait,” Kalinin said. The statement drew a clear distinction between Musk’s private engagements, discussions around agricultural cooperation in Vladimirskaya oblast and the Russian government’s position. It said no relocation programme for South African farmers had been endorsed or initiated by the Russian state and that discussions referenced by the embassy related instead to agriculture, investment and private-sector cooperation. The clarification also situated the matter within broader Russia–South Africa relations, framing it as part of efforts to deepen trade and investment ties between BRICS-aligned countries in a challenging global economic environment.