KYIV, Ukraine\u00a0\u2014\u00a0President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday awarded Elon Musk Ukraine\u2019s Order of Freedom, one of its highest state honors, for his \u201coutstanding personal merits\u201d in protecting human life and freedom and strengthening ties with the United States.<\/p>\n
Musk, the founder of the aerospace company SpaceX, has become one of the most influential, and contentious, private sector figures in Ukraine\u2019s war effort. His decision to provide access to Starlink, SpaceX\u2019s satellite internet network, was a lifeline for Ukraine after Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion in 2022 and remains critically important.<\/p>\n
Starlink has become deeply embedded in Ukraine\u2019s military operations, with commanders and soldiers relying on satellite connectivity to communicate and coordinate operations.<\/p>\n
Musk\u2019s decision-making could shape Ukraine\u2019s future military capabilities. Starlink doesn\u2019t currently operate over Russian territory, but Zelensky wants Musk to reconsider the policy. That would allow Ukrainian forces to maintain satellite connectivity for longer-range drone attacks targeting Russia\u2019s military and economic infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Musk made no immediate comment on the award, which was announced by presidential decree.<\/p>\n
Musk has restricted Starlink use in Russia<\/p>\n
The technology has been integrated into Ukraine\u2019s drone operations, helping operators maintain links with drones and navigate them over longer distances. Ukraine\u2019s access to Starlink is the main reason for the early successes of its middle-strike drone campaign, which caught Russian forces off guard and undermined their logistics lines earlier this year.<\/p>\n
The campaign has put pressure on Russian logistics in Crimea, giving Ukrainian forces a degree of battlefield momentum that Kyiv has not enjoyed since its successful counteroffensives around Kherson and Kharkiv in late 2022.<\/p>\n
Musk has allowed the Ukrainians to use Starlink inside their own territory, including in Russian-occupied regions, but has restricted use of the satellite system inside Russia.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, SpaceX blocked unauthorized Starlink terminals being used by Russian forces in occupied territory, strengthening Ukraine\u2019s position.<\/p>\n
Musk\u2019s oversized influence over Ukraine<\/p>\n
Musk is both a crucial partner for Kyiv and a potential source of vulnerability. As Starlink has become embedded in its wartime communications, Musk and SpaceX have significant influence over how the technology can be used, making it important for Kyiv to preserve a positive relationship.<\/p>\n
Zelensky has sought U.S. help in persuading Musk to permit Ukraine to expand its ability to use Starlink beyond its borders. Musk has said he believes that would be a significant and dangerous escalation, Zelensky told reporters last week.<\/p>\n
Musk\u2019s influence has spilled into politics<\/p>\n
A reported mix-up over whether SpaceX had approved Ukraine\u2019s use of Starlink for operations inside Russia contributed to tensions between Zelensky and then-Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who was the government\u2019s main interlocutor with Musk.<\/p>\n
Fedorov was dismissed in July as part of a broader government shake-up.<\/p>\n
Zelensky said inaccurate information from the Defense Ministry that SpaceX had approved the bid had contributed to an awkward exchange with President Trump, who accused the Ukrainian president of deceiving him. He did not say when that occurred.<\/p>\n
That contributed to \u201csome of the steps\u201d taken against Fedorov, Zelensky told reporters last week, without explicitly accusing him of deliberately providing false information.<\/p>\n
Federov\u2019s dismissal also highlights the political element of Musk\u2019s role in Ukraine\u2019s war effort.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KYIV, Ukraine\u00a0\u2014\u00a0President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday awarded Elon Musk Ukraine\u2019s Order of Freedom, one of its highest state…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[11814,11812,2439,158,11811,11773,7553,25,1285,2614,2438,26,11813,112,108],"class_list":["post-33789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-access","tag-award","tag-elon-musk","tag-kyiv","tag-military-operation","tag-musk","tag-role","tag-russia","tag-russian-force","tag-spacex","tag-starlink","tag-ukraine","tag-ukrainian-force","tag-year","tag-zelenskyy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}