Zelensky Tries Old-Fashioned Flattery on Musk as He Seeks Expanded Starlink Capabilities For New-Fangled Drone Strikes

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine appears to have turned to sycophancy as a foreign policy strategy to further his war efforts against Russia.Mr. Zelensky, on Wednesday, awarded Elon Musk with a major state honor as he seeks to get approval for expanded use of his Starlink internet system to carry out drone strikes in Russia.In a notice posted on his website, the Ukrainian president said he was awarding Mr. Musk the Order of Liberty “For outstanding personal merits in protecting human life and freedom, and developing relations between the peoples of Ukraine and the United States of America.”The award, also known as the Order of Freedom, was first awarded in 2008 to honor citizens and foreigners who work to strengthen the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Mr. Musk has not publicly commented on the Ukrainian accolade.Ukraine is seeking to launch Starlink-equipped drones to hit missile launchers and drones up to 200 kilometers inside Russia. The Ukrainian military faces a shortage of Patriot missiles to shoot down incoming attacks, but has a steady supply of drones to carry out offensive strikes on the Russian launch sites.Mr. Zelensky has said expanded use of Starlink could reduce “precisely those capabilities that Russia is relying on to drag out the war.” Mr. Musk has blocked Ukraine’s use of Starlink over Russian territory, telling the Kyiv Independent that it would be an “escalation” of the war.Mr. Musk, earlier this year, denied Russia’s military the use of the Starlink network, but he has oscillated on allowing Ukraine to use his technology. Early in the war he blocked Starlink coverage near the Russian controlled Crimea that hurt Ukraine’s attack capabilities on the Black Sea Fleet. Mr. Musk threatened to pull the plug on his funding of all Starlink service in Ukraine but reversed course as Russia sent waves of Iranian Shahed-136 drones towards Ukrainian cities.It was reported that Mr. Zelensky, at a July meeting, asked President Trump to speak with Mr. Musk about allowing Ukraine to use Starlink inside Russia but Mr. Trump was non-committal.Ukraine has been carrying out its own campaign of drone and missile strikes deep inside Russia but has been targeting factories and warehouses that it can hit without Starlink aid.Mr. Zelensky has been handing awards to British leaders in recent weeks as they have promised support for Ukraine. Mr. Zelensky in July personally presented Keir Starmer with an Order of Liberty award on his final visit to Kyiv as prime minister.This week he presented Prime Minister Andy Burnham with a new state distinction, “Gratitude of the Ukrainian People,” as Mr. Burnham made his first foreign visit in office to Ukraine. The two leaders then signed an agreement to work together to build next-generation AI-enabled military capabilities.

Zelensky Tries Old-Fashioned Flattery on Musk as He Seeks Expanded Starlink Capabilities For New-Fangled Drone Strikes

Zelensky Tries Old-Fashioned Flattery on Musk as He Seeks Expanded Starlink Capabilities For New-Fangled Drone Strikes

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