Ukraine security service exposes Hungarian military spy network

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced on Friday that for the first time in the history of Ukraine, it exposed a Hungarian military intelligence network. 

The SBU reported that it has identified and neutralised an agent network associated with the Hungarian military intelligence. 

“This is the first case in the modern history of the country when espionage activities of a foreign intelligence service from an EU country to the detriment of Ukrainian security have been officially recorded”, the SBU said in its statement on Telegram.

Two people who were allegedly part of the intelligence network have been detained.

One of them was a 40-year-old former military man recruited in 2021 from the Beregivskyy district in Zakarpattia, close to the border with Hungary. 

The SBU says that in September 2024, he started following the instructions of his handler — a career officer of the Hungarian military intelligence, whose identity has already been established.

The agent collected information about the Ukrainian forces in the region, recorded the coordinates of anti-aircraft systems, and tried to find the details of the defence systems.

In addition, he was interested in the availability of weapons on the black market and allegedly planned to expand the agent network by recruiting new informants.

According to the SBU investigation, he then crossed the border to Hungary using a certificate of care stating that his father required medical treatment abroad. 

During a personal meeting in Hungary, the agent received money and special equipment from his handler — a mobile phone with an encrypted communication channel. He then continued to transmit data, including information about the official movements and transport of security forces and the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The second detainee was a former servicewoman of the Ukrainian defence forces, who, according to the SBU, transmitted information about the aircraft fleet and defence systems of her former unit to foreign intelligence.

The SBU said that the suspects were detained at their place of residence and that phones and other evidence were seized during the search.

The SBU has published a video of the revelation on YouTube. The video is in Ukrainian, but from the third minute onwards, the accused can be heard speaking Hungarian.