Kyiv has claimed that the Ukrainian Security Service (SSU) has uncovered a large-scale Russian disinformation operation targeting members of the ethnic Hungarian community in Transcarpathia. According to Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Russians allegedly made fake calls with threats to Hungarians while posing as Ukrainian law enforcement.
‘The revealed operation demonstrates the scale of Russian interference in Hungarian elections on the side of Viktor Orbán,’ Sybiha wrote in a post on X on Wednesday, accusing the prime minister’s campaign team of coordinating with the alleged perpetrators.
In a statement, the SSU claimed that ‘technical investigations have established that the calls were made from the territory’ of Russia, adding that authorities are currently working to block what they described as a ‘hostile information and psychological operation’. ‘We urge citizens not to fall for such provocations. If you receive threats or suspicious messages, please immediately inform law enforcement agencies,’ the statement concluded.
Ukraine’s accusations come amid an already intense information campaign surrounding Hungary’s upcoming election scheduled for 12 April. Claims of Russian interference are already part of the narrative of Orbán’s opposition, both domestically and at the European level. After a report by Hungarian outlet Direkt36 alleged that Russian military intelligence officers had been deployed to Hungary in order to support Viktor Orbán’s campaign, Western mainstream media quickly picked up and amplified the story, despite there being no tangible evidence to substantiate the claim beyond anonymous sources cited in the article.
Pointing to the report, opposition leader Péter Magyar accused Orbán of ‘inviting Russians’ to Hungary, comparing him to communist leader János Kádár, and calling on him to stop ‘external interference’ in the country’s election. Former leader of the progressive Momentum party Győr-Fekete András wrote an open letter to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, urging him to ‘intervene’ in Hungarian domestic politics.
Meanwhile, rejecting the accusations, Orbán pointed to what he described as similar interference by the European Commission and Ukraine, alleging that they support Magyar and the Tisza Party in order to oust his government. According to the Hungarian prime minister, intelligence reports indicate that the Tisza Party receives funding from Kyiv, as Ukraine seeks to overthrow the Hungarian administration due to its firm stance against the country’s EU membership, further EU financial and military support to Kyiv, and sanctions on Russian energy.
Ukraine has been halting the transit of Russian oil through the key Druzhba pipeline since 27 January, threatening the energy security of both Slovakia and Hungary. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier stated that Kyiv has no political will to resume transit anytime soon. However, after weeks of disputes, accusations, and contradictory statements, Brussels offered to finance the repair of the pipeline in order to lift Orbán’s veto on the €90 billion loan, which he announced in response to the oil blockade.
Relations between Hungary and Ukraine have deteriorated to an extremely low level, with Zelenskyy openly threatening Orbán with providing his address to the armed forces so they can ‘convince’ him to lift the veto. A former SBU general also threatened the family of the Hungarian prime minister.
Meanwhile, the European Commission has activated its intervention mechanism under the Digital Services Act (DSA), launching the so-called rapid response system aimed at ‘countering potential disinformation campaigns’ ahead of the election. Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier confirmed that the mechanism—agreed upon by 44 signatories, including major platforms such as Meta and TikTok—will operate until one week after the vote.
Describing the system as voluntary, Regnier stated that it involves cooperation between technology companies, fact-checkers, and civil society organizations to ensure that suspected foreign interference, particularly from Russia, is swiftly identified and addressed.
Just days after the announcement, Facebook began restricting Orbán’s posts and content related to the prime minister, signalling that what critics describe as EU-level online interference—highlighted in a report by the US House Judiciary Committee as affecting at least eight European elections in the past two years—has already begun.
Reacting to Sybiha’s accusations, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó called on Kyiv to ‘stop telling lies, stop interfering’ in Hungary’s election, and ‘not to use the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia’ for their ‘dirty goals’. Szijjártó added that it is evident that it is in Ukraine’s interest for the opposition to win the election, as they would drag Hungary into the war, allow the country’s resources to be sent to Kyiv, and support Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
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