Zelenskyy awards Elon Musk the Order of Freedom
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has awarded American entrepreneur Elon Musk the Order of Freedom。
The respective decree No. 835/2026 was signed by the head of state on August 26.
The document states that the founder and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla was recognized "for outstanding personal merits in protecting the lives of people and freedom, and developing relations between the peoples of Ukraine and the United States of America".
The Order of Freedom is a state award of Ukraine, given for special merits in affirming the sovereignty and independence of the state, consolidating society, developing democracy, socio-economic and political reforms, as well as for protecting constitutional rights and freedoms of a person.
Musk leads the companies SpaceX and Tesla. SpaceX is also the operator of the Starlink satellite system, which is widely used in Ukraine to provide connectivity, particularly in wartime conditions.
The figure of Musk holds special significance for Ukraine due to the military's dependence on Starlink satellite communications. The system's terminals are widely used by the Defense Forces for communication, command, and data transfer, so the position of the owner of SpaceX directly affects the capabilities of the Ukrainian army.
Ukraine is also trying to expand the use of Starlink for long-range operations. In particular, Kyiv wants to convince Musk to allow the system to operate on strike drones that could operate over Russian territory and attack ballistic missile launchers.
A key channel of communication with Musk for a long time was former Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov. After his dismissal, he continued unofficial contacts with the entrepreneur and tried to achieve an expansion of Starlink capabilities in the interests of Ukrainian defense. At the same time, his departure from the president's inner circle complicated Kyiv's negotiations with SpaceX.
Against this background, Zelenskyy's decision to award Musk the Order of Freedom appears particularly indicative, since part of the critical capabilities of the Ukrainian army continue to depend on cooperation with SpaceX.
