Hungary bars entry of Ukrainian commander of Hungarian descent over Druzhba pipeline attack
Editor's note: The story was updated to include additional comments from Ukrainian and Hungarian officials.
Hungary has decided to ban the commander of a Ukrainian military unit responsible for the latest attack on the Druzhba oil pipeline from entering the country and the Schengen Area, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Aug. 28.
In recent weeks, Ukraine carried out at least three attacks on the Druzhba oil pipeline, which delivers Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia, temporarily disrupting operations.
Though Szijjarto did not name the commander hit by the ban, Balazs Orban, the Hungarian prime minister's political director, confirmed for Hungarian news outlet 444 that the measure targets Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces.
Brovdi, who is of Hungarian descent and known by the call sign "Madyar," has confirmed that his branch was responsible for the drone strikes against Druzhba, including the latest one carried out on Aug. 21, which targeted the Unecha pumping station in Bryansk Oblast.
The Hungarian foreign minister described the strike as "an attack on Hungary’s sovereignty," saying it "endangered our energy security and nearly (forced) the use of our strategic reserves."
"Ukraine knows very well that the Druzhba pipeline is vital for Hungary’s and Slovakia’s energy supply, and that such strikes harm us far more than Russia," Szijjarto said on X.
Brovdi dismissed Budapest's decision and said the Hungarian leadership shares responsibility for Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities by "filling their own dirty pockets with sanctioned cheap raw materials."
"I am Ukrainian, and I will arrive in my father’s homeland after you," the commander said on his Telegram channel. "There are enough true Hungarians in Hungary, and one day, they will be sick to death of you."
In his statement, Szijjarto made no mention of the Russian overnight mass drone and missile attack on Kyiv on Aug. 28, which killed at least 18 people, including four children, and injured almost 40 others.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that Budapest "is on the wrong side of history."
"Peter, if the Russian pipeline is more important to you than the Ukrainian children killed by Russia this morning, this is moral decay," he wrote on X.
"If Hungary has indeed closed entry into Hungary and the entire Schengen zone to one of Ukraine’s military commanders, who is an ethnic Hungarian and a citizen of Ukraine, this can only cause outrage," President Volodymyr Zelensky said, adding that the Foreign Ministry has been instructed to clarify the issue and "respond accordingly."
The Druzhba pipeline, one of the world's largest, carries Russian oil directly to Hungary and Slovakia — the only EU countries still buying Russian crude through the system. In July, they imported $232 million and $196 million worth of oil, respectively.
Hungary, widely seen as the most Russia-friendly government in the EU, has repeatedly opposed Brussels' attempts to fully halt Russian energy imports and threatened to block Ukraine's path to EU membership.
Kyiv regularly carries out attacks on military and industrial facilities in Russia, targeting Russian oil infrastructure to undermine Moscow's revenue streams and weaken its ability to wage war in Ukraine.
