Russia sending election operatives to Hungary to prop up Orban, media reports
Russia is sending social media specialists to Hungary to meddle in the April elections in favor of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, VSquare reported on March 5, citing three undisclosed European national security sources.
The three-member team would be working from the Russian Embassy in Budapest on behalf of the military intelligence agency (GRU), shielded by diplomatic immunity, according to the outlet.
The news comes as Orban adopts increasingly hostile rhetoric toward Ukraine, part of a strategy to boost his Fidesz Party, which is currently trailing the opposition Tisza Party in polls ahead of parliamentary elections.
It remains unclear whether the Russian team is already active, VSquare wrote.
Sergei Kiriyenko, a powerful Kremlin aide, has reportedly been tasked with overseeing the Russian operation in Hungary, applying the same set of methods deployed during Moscow-backed meddling in the Moldovan parliamentary elections last year.
The Kremlin has been accused of deploying troll farms, disinformation, and vote-buying networks to sway the vote against President Maia Sandu's pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), which ultimately won the September 2025 election.
Intelligence on Moscow's attempt to prop up Orban has been shared with partners, and many EU and NATO agencies are likely already aware, VSquare's source said.
An undisclosed Central European source told the outlet that Kiriyenko's task force is in active contact with campaign operatives connected to Orban's government.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.
The Hungarian government, broadly regarded as the most Kremlin-friendly in the EU, has maintained warm relations with Russia despite the full-scale war in Ukraine.
Most recently, Budapest blocked the EU's 20th package of sanctions against Russia and the bloc's 90-billion-euro ($105-billion) loan to Ukraine over the suspension of operations of the Ukrainian section of the Druzhba pipeline.
While Kyiv has said that the pipeline requires repairs due to a Russian attack in western Ukraine in late January, Slovakia and Hungary — the only two EU members still receiving Russian crude through the network — accused the Ukrainian leadership of deliberately withholding the supplies.
The dispute escalated this week after Orban threatened to use force to break what he called a Ukrainian oil blockade.
President Volodymyr Zelensky hit back by hinting he would ask the Ukrainian army to talk to Orban "in their own language." The Ukrainian president also noted he does not favor restoring the Druzhba pipeline as it transports Russian oil.
Soon after, Ukraine reported that several Ukrainian state bank employees were detained in Hungary while transporting cash shipments from Austria.
Budapest and Bratislava have called for a joint inspection of the damaged pipeline with EU participation, a proposal Zelensky said he would consider if formally requested.
