Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó have seized on the recent arson of a church in Transcarpathia to accuse Ukraine of targeting its ethnic Hungarian minority – a narrative Kyiv says dovetails with Kremlin-backed disinformation.
On July 16, a fire damaged a Hungarian church in Palad‑Komarivtsi. Anti-Hungarian slogans such as “Down with the Hungarians” and “Death to the Hungarians” were reportedly sprayed on its facade. Ukrainian authorities said a suspect has been detained, with no injuries reported.
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Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban attends a meeting at the European Council in Brussels on June 26, 2025. (Photo by John Thys / AFP)
Hungary immediately summoned Ukraine’s ambassador, with Szijjártó framing the attack as further evidence of a “decade‑long” campaign against ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine, according to Babel.
The incident came just days after Poland announced it was downgrading diplomatic relations with Hungary, pulling its ambassador from Budapest in protest of Orbán’s decision to grant asylum to a former Polish deputy justice minister wanted on corruption charges.
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Warsaw denounced Hungary’s move as a “hostile act” and breach of EU solidarity – another sign of Hungary’s growing isolation within the bloc, as reported by Brussels Signal.
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), local police, and independent analysts warn the church incident bears all the hallmarks of a Russian-orchestrated false‑flag operation. According to Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, the goal is to inflame ethnic tensions and discredit Kyiv – a play straight from Moscow’s hybrid warfare playbook.
This is not an isolated claim. Similar incidents in western Ukraine – such as the 2018 arson at a Hungarian cultural center in Uzhhorod – were later traced back to far‑right operatives with Kremlin links, not Ukrainian ethnic groups.
Analysts warn this timing is too convenient: Szijjártó’s diplomatic offensive, the embassy summons, and the church fire form a coordinated attack reminiscent of Russian psy‑ops targeting EU and NATO cohesion
By framing Ukraine as an active oppressor of its ethnic Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia, Budapest is crafting a narrative designed to erode Kyiv’s standing in both the EU and NATO, portraying Ukraine as intolerant and heavy-handed.
Critics argue Orbán’s rapid public condemnation of Kyiv coincides with Hungary’s increasingly pro‑Kremlin alignment. Budapest has repeatedly vetoed EU sanctions on Moscow, maintained military transit bans, and signed a 15‑year gas supply deal with Gazprom, bypassing Ukraine entirely.
Energy dependence remains acute: Hungary imports roughly 4.5 billion m³ of Russian gas annually via the TurkStream pipeline, providing nearly half the country’s needs – a pact that sidelines Ukraine’s transit role and weakens EU unity, reported the Financial Times.
This pact gives Budapest substantial leverage in EU policy, enabling it to resist collective action aimed at isolating Russia, including sanctions and a bloc-wide gas ban. Allowing Hungary to escalate unverified accusations without robust evidence risks emboldening future disinformation campaigns, which could fracture EU cohesion and undermine regional security.
Kyiv now faces several critical next steps. Domestically, the Security Service (SBU) and local police are conducting a criminal investigation to determine the origins of the church attack and assess links to potential false-flag operations.
In Brussels, the EU continues to engage diplomatically, urging that responses be grounded in verifiable facts rather than politically driven rhetoric.
Back in Budapest, Orbán appears likely to double down on Kremlin-style messaging – potentially leveraging ethnic narratives to consolidate support.
Kyiv maintains that only a transparent, evidence-based investigation – not politicized proclamations – can uphold trust in EU principles and rules, curb false narratives, and prevent divisions among allies from being inflamed further.