Zelenskyi awards Elon Musk Ukraine’s highest state honor for foreigners
The decree says the American businessman received the award for his personal contribution to protecting people.
To award the Order of Freedom to Elon Musk, entrepreneur, engineer, head of SpaceX and Tesla, United States of America," the document says.
As is known, the Order of Freedom is Ukraine's highest state award that foreigners can receive.
Musk owns SpaceX, which produces Starlink satellite communication terminals. Ukraine uses this system, including to provide communications during the full-scale war.
Background
Back in 2022, SpaceX founder Elon Musk agreed to a request from Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations and access to satellite internet. On April 27, Starlink Ukraine was registered in Ukraine as SpaceX's representative office.
Starlink is a SpaceX project that provides broadband internet access through a satellite network. Its internet speed reaches up to 1 Gbps for each subscriber, and it can be used anywhere on Earth.
Later, in the summer of 2023, billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX and the US Department of Defense signed a contract to purchase Starlink satellite communication terminals and related services for Ukraine for use by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In early 2026, Musk agreed to a request from Ukrainian authorities to restrict Russian troops' use of Starlink. After that, Ukraine began using only verified terminals included in a so-called "whitelist."
According to Ukrainian authorities, verification of Starlink terminals involves checking their ownership and use. This should make it impossible for terminals that may be linked to Russian troops to operate on Ukrainian territory.
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26 of August 2026
