Ukraine on Friday banned three senior Hungarian military officials from entering its territory in retaliation for a similar move by Budapest, in the latest chapter of mounting tensions between the two neighbours.
Andriy Sybiga, Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister, confirmed the decision on social media platform X, calling it a “mirror response” to Hungary’s recent actions.
"This step is a reaction to any display of disrespect from Hungary, particularly towards our military," Sybiga said in a statement.
In August, Hungary declared Ukrainian military official Robert Brovdi persona non grata, accusing him of disrupting Russian oil supplies. Budapest claimed strikes by Brovdi had targeted the Druzhba oil pipeline.
Ukraine, in turn, has escalated attacks on Russian energy infrastructure in recent months, aiming to disrupt exports and diminish Moscow’s revenues that fund the war.
Tensions between the two countries have been further strained since Hungary, in July, barred three other Ukrainian military officers. This came after the death of a dual Hungarian-Ukrainian citizen, whom Hungary alleges was beaten to death by Ukrainian military recruiters.
Kyiv denied these allegations, noting that Ukraine’s western border regions are home to a significant Hungarian minority.
Relations between Kyiv and Budapest, already fraught before the Russian invasion in 2022, have significantly worsened since the war began, as Hungary has emerged as one of Moscow’s few European allies.
On Friday, Ukrainian armed forces reported airspace violations by reconnaissance drones along the border with Hungary, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on platform X.
The drones are believed to have originated from Hungarian territory.
Zelenskyy stated that preliminary findings suggest the drones conducted reconnaissance flights to assess the industrial potential of Ukrainian border regions.
He has ordered a full verification of all available information and instructed that an urgent report be prepared for each recorded incident.
