The condition is not to return to Ukraine. So Russia handed over 11 Ukrainian prisoners to Hungary.
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The DW portal published a material that talks about the transfer of a group of 11 people to the Hungarian side – all of them were from Transcarpathia. Two fighters spoke about the conditions in which they were held captive, how the exchange took place and the demands put forward by the Hungarian side.
Both men were kept in the Sukhodolsk colony in the occupied territory of the Lugansk region – soldiers who returned from captivity repeatedly spoke about inhumane conditions and a real dungeon in Sukhodolsk.
The guys did not hope for an exchange, but one day they were brought to Moscow for interrogation, and later handed over to the representative of Hungary.
Hungary told Russia that our grandmothers could be Hungarians, so they are taking their people, – said Ivan [імена змінені].
As the military man noted, out of 11 fighters, only 1 had Hungarian roots.
But they told me: either you speak as you should – that you are Hungarian, or it is unknown whether they will take you back,” Ivan added.
Upon arrival in Budapest, the men were accommodated in a hotel complex, allowed to move around the city after receiving refugee status, and were not guarded. However, the key requirement was not to return to Ukraine until the end of the war.
Otherwise, such dismissals will not happen again,” adds volunteer Vlasta Reipashi, who at that time worked as a representative of the Commissioner for Missing Persons in the Transcarpathian region.
The exchange was first reported by Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Schemien, calling it “a gesture of the Russian Orthodox Church towards Hungary” – the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry then responded to the deputy prime minister’s statement and noted that neither party was notified about this exchange, that participated.
Despite the ban on the Hungarians, 5 out of 11 military personnel decided to return to Ukraine, the rest dispersed throughout the EU. In July, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, Andrei Yusov, said that the Russian Orthodox Church was preparing a new transfer of Ukrainian prisoners of war from Muscovy to Hungary, but this exchange never took place.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó denied any involvement of Hungarian officials in the exchange, but the event became a tool for the Orbán government and once again confirmed its strong ties with the Russian Orthodox Church.
It is impossible to describe the insignificance of the decision to use Ukrainian prisoners of war as a propaganda method and in fact forcibly detain them on the territory of the country. Although, in view of Viktor Orban’s latest statements regarding the war in Ukraine, there is nothing to be surprised about.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.