Ukraine’s main intelligence agency said it had uncovered a Hungarian-run spy network seeking confidential information on military defense and public opinion in the western region of Transcarpathia, which borders Hungary and where a large part of the population is of Hungarian descent.
Hungary responded by expelling two Ukrainian diplomats, whom it considered to be spies. This exacerbated tensions between the two neighboring countries, whose governments are at odds over Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said on May 9 that it had detained two suspected agents in Transcarpathia – and claimed the man leading them was an employee of Hungarian military intelligence.
The SBU said this was the first time Ukraine had uncovered a Hungarian spy network working to undermine the country’s security.
The announcement comes amid tensions between Ukraine and Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban maintains good relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and opposes sanctions against the Kremlin despite Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
Hungary has given Kiev far less support in its defense efforts than most other countries in the European Union and NATO.
The development is also linked to the complicated situation in Transcarpathia. According to Kremlin critics, Russia is trying to stir up tensions between ethnic Hungarians and the Ukrainian authorities there.
A few hours after the SBU’s announcement, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced that Hungary had expelled two diplomats from the Ukrainian embassy in Budapest who were considered to be spies in disguise. In a video published on Facebook, he said that the Ukrainian ambassador at the Foreign Ministry had been informed of the expulsions.
When asked about the SBU statement, Szijjarto told ATV television that Hungary had not received any official communication from Ukraine about the case and that currently “this must be treated as propaganda”.
“[In addition] to the physical war [in Ukraine], there is also a propaganda war going on,” Szijjarto said. “It is clear that anti-Hungarian propaganda is often used in Ukraine, propaganda that has proven to be unfounded in many cases.”
The alleged aims of the network were to “collect data on the military defense of the Transcarpathian region, search for weaknesses in the region’s ground and air defenses, and study the social and political views of local residents,” including how they might react “if Hungarian forces invade the region,” the SBU statement said.
The Hungarian prime minister’s office and the defense ministry did not immediately respond to RFE’s request for comment.
The SBU said one of the suspects was a 40-year-old former soldier from Berehove district in Transcarpathia, home to Ukraine’s ethnic Hungarian minority of about 100,000 people. He was recruited in 2021 and deployed by the alleged leader in September 2024.
The SBU claims to have evidence documents proving that the suspect collected information on the location of Ukrainian air defense systems and other military capabilities.
The other suspect, a woman, is a former member of the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine who resigned from his unit earlier this year, the statement said.
The names of the suspects have not been released.
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