Tesla founder Elon Musk has challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin to a fight over Ukraine in an early morning Twitter dump that included memes about the invasion and references to Macbeth.

'I hereby challenge Vladimir Putin to single combat,' Musk tweeted Monday, typing Putin's name in Russian. 'Stakes are Ukraine,' he added, writing the country's name in Ukrainian.

Musk, 50, capped off his challenge with a direct reference to the Kremlin.

'Do you agree to this fight?' he wrote, tagging the Kremlin's official Twitter account.

The South African-born billionaire, who has been known for making outlandish comments on twitter in the past, may be biting off more than he can handle in challenging the former head of the KGB.

The Russian president is a judo blackbelt and even co-authored a book about the sport, titled 'Judo: History, Theory, Practice'.

Putin, 69, was made honorary president of the International Judo Federation in 2008, but has been suspended from the role over his war on Ukraine.

Musk's bizarre challenge was part of a flurry of tweets he sent out over the course of three hours, including the oft-quoted Shakespeare line from Macbeth: 'By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.'