Russia's special operation against Hungarians in Zakarpattia indicates Russia's interference in Hungarian elections on behalf of Orban – Sybiha

The Russian intelligence agency's information and psychological operation, uncovered by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and directed against ethnic Hungarians in Zakarpattia region, points to Russia's interference in the Hungarian elections on behalf of the current head of the Hungarian government, Viktor Orbán, notes Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha.

“Russians made fake calls with threats to Hungarians posing as Ukrainian law enforcement. The revealed operation demonstrates the scale of Russian interference in Hungarian elections on the side of Viktor Orban. It cannot be excluded that such action was also made in coordination with his campaign,” Sybiha said on X Wednesday evening.

As reported, the Russians used IP telephony spoofing technology to conduct the information-psychological operation (IPSO). From supposedly Ukrainian phone numbers, the enemy made anonymous threatening calls to representatives of the Hungarian national community. The SBU reported that during the calls, unknown individuals, posing as members of "national-patriotic groups" and even Ukrainian law enforcement officers, allegedly demanded that the Hungarian community leave Ukraine and threatened physical violence.

Based on technical measures taken, it was determined that the calls originated from within the Russian Federation. The SBU is currently working to block this IPSO and urges citizens not to fall for such provocations.