Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has awarded the Order of Freedom to Elon Musk, the highest order Ukraine can confer on foreign nationals.
A presidential decree numbered 835/2026 and dated August 26 confers the award on the American entrepreneur, engineer and head of SpaceX and Tesla, Interfax-Ukraine reported.
The text cites Musk’s “outstanding personal merits in protecting human life and freedom, and developing relations between the peoples of Ukraine and the United States of America”.
The Order of Freedom, established in 2008, recognises special merits in asserting Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence, consolidating society, developing democracy and defending constitutional rights and freedoms.
By August 2026 it had been conferred on 97 people, 36 of them foreign nationals.
Previous foreign recipients have included French President Emmanuel Macron, decorated in Paris on July 13, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf, who became the first holder of the order on September 29, 2008. Former British prime minister Boris Johnson and former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau have also been made holders.
Starlink, the satellite internet service operated by Musk’s company SpaceX, has provided communications for Ukrainian forces, government institutions and civilians since the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
In February 2026 SpaceX disabled thousands of terminals that Russian forces had been using, disrupting their operations. The company acted after Kyiv introduced a “whitelist” of verified devices, with most Russian-operated units cut off by February 5.
Ukraine has continued talks aimed at securing permission for its forces to use Starlink over Russian territory for long-range strikes, in particular against mobile ballistic missile launchers.
Zelensky asked US President Donald Trump to intercede with Musk during a White House meeting on July 28, The Atlantic reported.
Associates of former Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov claimed that Musk was refusing to grant Ukraine permission to do this, the magazine reported on August 7. Fedorov had confirmed the talks a day earlier, saying he had last spoken to Musk days previously.
Zelensky said on August 23 that Musk currently regarded such a step as an escalation but might reconsider, adding that the entrepreneur could change his position “when he sees more arguments”.
Poland’s foreign minister Radosław Sikorski has accused Elon Musk of “making money from war crimes”. https://t.co/9gd8or9ZBd
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) January 28, 2026
