Zelensky on spy row: Why would Hungary seek locations of Ukrainian air defense assets?

This was stated in an interview with Válasz Online by President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, who commented on the recent spy scandal, Ukrinform reports.

“There is no problem if we respect each other. That is how problems can be solved. Let’s put it this way: Budapest has tried to interfere in Ukrainian internal affairs in dozens of different ways. You could not have heard about these. We stopped the illegal distribution of passports in Transcarpathia before the war. Most of the cases were dealt with quietly, among ourselves. Why did we make the current case public? We have additional photos and videos of various meetings organized by the Hungarian Military National Security Service (KNBSZ) on Hungarian territory, which we will also publish if necessary,” he said.

Zelensky added that KNBSZ paid its intelligence assets.

“We have documented everything. The Hungarian network has been developed since 2021, and military-related questions were raised in 2024-25. The most recent information transfer took place on 25 March this year,” the president added.

Zelensky also wondered why Hungary needed to look for Ukrainian vulnerabilities at the Ukrainian-Hungarian border.

“Why did the Hungarians want information about where we had deployed the S-300 air defense missile system there? That’s what they were interested in. They even had a list of questions on their phones – we have them too – with eleven questions, including what the people of Transcarpathia would say about the presence of Hungarian peacekeepers. And where our various military units are stationed. How should we respond to this in times of war? I am not saying that Budapest wants something, but if it does not, then to whom is it gathering information? I asked NATO officials whether they had asked the Hungarians to collect data on such matters. They replied that they had not. I am the president of a country at war – how would you have reacted if you were in my place? I don’t blame Viktor (Orban – ed.), I blame the KNBSZ,” he added.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on May 9, the SBU said its operatives for the first in Ukrainian history had exposed a spy network run by Hungarian military intelligence. Among the ring’s tasks, the investigation learned, was collecting intelligence on a military security situation of Ukraine’s far-western Zakarpattia region and searching for vulnerabilities in the ground and air defenses deployed in the area.

On the same day, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto reported the expulsion of two Ukrainian diplomats over allegedly spying under “diplomatic cover”.

On May 9, officers from the Counter-Terrorism Center in Budapest detained a Ukrainian national, allegedly on suspicion of espionage.

On May 20, the leader of the Fidesz parliamentary faction, Mate Kocsis, claimed the Hungarian national security services had exposed “two more Ukrainian spies”.