A senior Ukrainian official questioned Saturday whether Twitter would be more — or less — free under new owner Elon Musk.

“Did the bird really get its freedom, or has it just moved to a new cage?” Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted Saturday, noting Musk’s “unusual moderation” of the website.

Musk has promised to champion free speech on the social media platform under his ownership, tweeting “the bird is freed” Thursday after completing his acquisition.

Twitter’s new owner had drawn Kyiv’s ire earlier this month after he tweeted a poll that proposed a “Ukraine-Russia peace plan,” which stipulated that Crimea is ceded to Russia with water supply to the region assured, and the creation of a referendum under UN supervision to determine control of Russian-annexed regions. Fifty-nine percent of more than 2.7 million respondents voted “no.”

Russia offered a more enthusiastic tone toward Musk’s new position as Twitter’s owner, with Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, tweeting on Friday: “Good luck @elonmusk in overcoming political bias and ideological dictatorship on Twitter. And quit that Starlink in Ukraine business.”

Starlink refers to the thousands of satellite-connected internet devices operated by Musk’s SpaceX company, which have been a vital communication vital for the Ukrainian army.

With Post wires