Why Ukraine Believes That 11 Soldiers of Ukrainian Armed Forces Were "Captured" in Hungary

The release of 11 Ukrainian military personnel from Russian captivity has turned into a toxic story that has further convinced both the Ukrainian government and Western leaders that Hungary is willing to play a role in Kremlin-directed performances.

Read more about Russia's special operation in the article by Dmytro Tuzhansky, Director of the Institute of Central European Strategy, and Sergiy Sydorenko, Editor of European Pravda Between Russian and Hungarian captivity: How 'game' with 11 Ukrainian soldiers trapped Orban by Kremlin.

Exactly two weeks ago, the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) announced that it had handed over a group of Ukrainian prisoners of war from Transcarpathia to Hungary, without involving the Ukrainian state. This statement itself sounds absurd. Many were puzzled by the church's announcement from the very beginning (what does the ROC have to do with it? Why should Ukrainians head to Hungary? How is this even possible?).

But even more absurd is that to this day, the ROC's announcement remains the most meaningful official comment from all parties involved in exchanging Ukrainian prisoners of war.

As it turned out, Ukraine is indeed not included in their number. The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has made several statements that Hungary did not even inform Kyiv about its actions concerning Ukrainian citizens and publicly called on Budapest to change this policy.

However, there are still no changes even with time. Ukraine's statements became increasingly harsh.

It reached the point when Kyiv publicly accused the Hungarian government of holding Ukrainians hostage at the beginning of this week.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs refrained from providing specifics in its statement, but it was later added by ombudsman Dmytro Lubynets, who stated that Hungary restricted the freedom of movement and contacts of Ukrainian prisoners and prevented Ukrainian diplomats from accessing them.

According to our sources, the Hungarians not only hindered the meeting between the Ukrainian servicemen and the Ukrainian consul but also kept them isolated. Moreover, even now, two weeks after their announced transfer to Hungary, Budapest has not officially informed Kyiv about the list of Ukrainians handed over by Russia.

Kyiv has every reason to talk about transferring the Ukrainian soldiers from Russian captivity to Hungarian captivity.

Deputy Prime Minister of Hungary Zsolt Semjén claimed that the 11 Ukrainians became "free people" after arriving in Budapest. The Hungarian government "no longer monitors their movements." However, it is already known that these statements were an outright lie.

According to information from Ukrainian sources, the captive soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were held in a designated location, not even allowing them to have phones. When they were arranged to meet with relatives, the Ukrainians were brought to the meeting place. They were even required to return to their place of detention.

Besides, as it turned out, the Ukrainians were persuaded that Ukraine had almost declared them traitors. They should by no means return. Media reports, citing Ukrainian sources, speculated that the captives were being coerced into holding a press conference with anti-Ukrainian statements, but currently, this seems more like fantasy.

Currently, four prisoners of war have already returned to Ukraine.

Under all circumstances, the release of Ukrainians from Russian captivity is a good event that is difficult to be outraged about. Moreover, this is likely not the last time it happens.

The Ukrainian side already knows that the dialogue between the intelligence services of Hungary and Russia to make the ROC's image better, camouflaged as the so-called "inter-church dialogue," continues. There is consideration of the possibility of transferring new Ukrainian prisoners of war associated with Transcarpathia to Hungary. And again without Ukraine.

The Russian and its allies' actions in Budapest leave no opportunity for Ukraine to remain silent. The Hungarian treatment of Ukrainian prisoners could not be left unseen.

Thus, Russia is creating a new conflict right ahead of the summit in Vilnius in July and the highly probable December vote in the European Parliament on the opening of negotiations with Ukraine on its EU accession. In both cases, all key decisions will be made unanimously, so Hungary's voice is also needed.