Screenshot: SBU
Two alleged Hungarian spies have been arrested in Zakarpattia, Ukraine’s westernmost region, on suspicion of gathering military intelligence against the Ukrainian state, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced on Friday.
“For the first time in the history of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine exposed an agent network of Hungarian military intelligence that conducted espionage activities to the detriment of our country,” the SBU said.
According to the SBU, the two agents, a man and a woman who had both previously served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), were part of a small Hungarian military intelligence network tasked with collecting reconnaissance about Zakarpattia’s defensive security.
The man, a 40-year-old former military officer from Berehove, a city in Zakarpattia, allegedly gathered information about the deployment of Ukrainian military and security forces to the region, as well as the coordinates of S-300 surface-to-air missile systems. In addition, the SBU said, he communicated with local residents to learn how they would likely react to a potential Hungarian military incursion.
The second detainee, a woman who left the AFU this year, allegedly informed the Hungarian intelligence service about the presence of helicopters and aircraft in Zakarpattia, as well as the defence systems of the military unit in which she served. The pair have been charged with high treason and face life imprisonment if convicted.
Responding to the allegations, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that Budapest had not been officially informed of the matter and dismissed the reports as “Ukrainian propaganda”. “If we receive any details or official information, we will be able to deal with it then, but until then it should be treated as propaganda, which should be treated with caution,” he said.
Budapest was quick to take countermeasures, with Szijjártó then announcing via Facebook that Hungary had expelled two Ukrainian Embassy employees, accusing them of espionage.
“Today we expelled two spies from Hungary who were working under diplomatic cover at the Ukrainian Embassy in Budapest. We have conveyed the decision and a corresponding note to the Ukrainian ambassador in Budapest”, he said.
Ukraine’s mountainous Zakarpattia region, which borders Hungary to its southwest, is home to some 80,000 Hungarian-speakers. While Hungary is a member of the European Union and NATO — Kyiv’s close partners — Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is widely regarded as the EU’s most pro-Moscow leader. Kyiv has repeatedly accused Budapest of encroaching on Ukraine’s sovereignty through political meddling and dual citizenship initiatives.
