Ukraine awards Musk top state honor: What is behind the move?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has bestowed one of Ukraine’s top state honors on SpaceX owner Elon Musk, Reuters writes.

Under a presidential decree published on the presidential website on Wednesday, Musk was awarded ​the Order of Freedom.

The decree praised Musk “for outstanding ​personal contributions to protecting human life and freedom, ⁠and for developing relations between the peoples of ​Ukraine and the United States of America.”

Musk switched on the ​Starlink satellite internet service over Ukraine shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. It has become the lifeblood of Ukraine’s battlefield communications ​and a tool for piloting drones.

Ukraine has now asked to use Starlink over Russian territory as ​it seeks to ​attack targets ⁠including launchers for ballistic missiles that are wreaking destruction on Ukrainian cities.

Zelensky has said ​he was told that Musk opposed the ​move ⁠as a “major escalation” of the war, but that Ukraine had “started to receive a different, more encouraging feedback.”

Using Starlink over ⁠Russian territory ​could reduce capabilities that Russia ​is relying on to drag out the war, Zelensky said.