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Ukrainian Intelligence Uncovers Hungarian Spy Network in Zakarpattia for the First Time
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![Amira_barkhush]( "Photo of Amira Barkhush")
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported on May 9 that it has uncovered a spy network operated by Hungarian military intelligence targeting the Ukrainian state.
“For the first time in Ukraine’s history, the Security Service has exposed a network run by Hungarian military intelligence that was conducting espionage activities to the detriment of our country,” the SBU wrote in their statement.
The group’s main task was to collect intelligence on the military security of Ukraine’s Zakarpattia region, identify weaknesses in its ground and air defenses, and study the political and social views of local residents, including potential scenarios of how they might react if Hungarian troops were to enter the region.
According to the SBU, two agents from the Hungarian intelligence network were detained in Zakarpattia. Both were handled by a career officer of Hungary’s military intelligence service, whose identity has already been established by Ukrainian authorities.
The foreign intelligence service reportedly intended to expand its intelligence-gathering efforts to include data from frontline and near-frontline areas as well.
One of the agents was a 40-year-old former serviceman from the Berehove district, who had been recruited by a foreign intelligence service and placed in a “standby mode” as early as 2021.
According to the SBU’s counterintelligence and investigators, the agent was “activated” by his handler in September 2024. At that point, he was assigned to study the sentiments of the local population and gather the following information:
how the military and civilian population of Zakarpattia would react if a peacekeeping contingent, particularly Hungarian troops, entered the region;
what types of military equipment and weapons could be purchased on the black market in Zakarpattia;
the current state of migration among the region’s Hungarian population;
the number and types of military units stationed in Zakarpattia, including the presence of military vehicles and transport;
the staffing levels and readiness of local law enforcement agencies.
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The investigation confirmed that the agent personally conducted reconnaissance of Defense Forces positions and recorded the coordinates of S-300 surface-to-air missile systems in the region.
After gathering the intelligence, he crossed into Hungary to report to his handler. To justify his border crossing, he obtained a caretaker certificate claiming he was accompanying his ill father for treatment abroad.
According to case materials, during the meeting, the Hungarian intelligence officer gave the agent cash intended to fund the assigned operations. This included identifying and recruiting a local network of informants. The SBU found that the agent attempted to recruit at least two individuals.
In March of this year, SBU counterintelligence documented a second meeting between the agent and his handler. This time, the agent received a mobile phone equipped with special software for covert communication.
Among his new tasks was identifying official vehicles used by members of Ukraine’s Security and Defense Forces in Zakarpattia. He was also instructed to collect and pass on information to the Hungarian intelligence service regarding Ukrainian Armed Forces losses and developments on the front line.
Another individual detained in the case is a former servicewoman of Ukraine’s Security and Defense Forces, who left her unit in 2025. According to the investigation, she was tasked with reporting to Hungarian intelligence on the presence of aircraft and helicopters in Zakarpattia, as well as the defensive systems of the military unit where she had served.
