Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has awarded his country’s Order of Freedom to Elon Musk Wednesday, amid efforts to persuade Musk to expand access to his Starlink network.
Zelenskyy’s presidential decree praises Musk for “protecting people’s lives and freedom, and developing relations between the peoples of Ukraine and the United States of America.”
Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service has helped Ukrainian forces maintain communications and coordinate operations since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. In February 2026, SpaceX disabled thousands of Starlink terminals used by Russian forces, weakening their military capabilities.
Ukraine is trying to convince the tech mogul to allow its army to use the Starlink network within Russian territory. Doing so would allow Ukraine to improve the accuracy of missile and drone strikes deep inside Russia. “For now, Musk has said that this would be an escalation. But he may change his mind when he sees more arguments,” Zelenskyy told journalists last Saturday.
The Order of Freedom is often awarded to foreign leaders for their support for Ukraine — recent recipients include French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda.