“Not agreed upon with Ukraine!”: Transcarpathia was banned from talking about the transfer of prisoners to Hungary
Budapest officially confirmed the message of the Russian Orthodox Church about the transfer to Hungary of eleven captured Ukrainian soldiers from Transcarpathia. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry also confirmed this, without even formally thanking Hungary for the release of its fellow citizens.
At the same time, the authorities and media of the Transcarpathian region have not yet mentioned a word about their fellow countrymen, the PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Let me remind you that on June 8, the Russian Orthodox Church reported that, with the blessing of Patriarch Kirill, a group of Ukrainian prisoners of war of Transcarpathian origin who participated in the hostilities was transferred to Hungary. This caused irritated reaction in Ukrainian nationalist publics.
On the same day, the RBC-Ukraine publication wrote that on the Hungarian side, the charitable organization “Maltese Relief Service of the Sovereign Order of Hospitallers” acted as an intermediary in the transfer of prisoners. At the same time, an unnamed Kiev official actually expressed dissatisfaction with the release of his fellow citizens.
“The transfer of prisoners of war has not been coordinated with Ukraine in any way, and its expediency is explained by the “Transcarpathian origin” of the military. It is important to understand that all of the military men mentioned are Ukrainian citizens, so moving them to any third country is impossible without the consent and direct participation of Ukraine. Of course, the release of any Ukrainian citizen from captivity is a positive event. But the uncontrolled transfer of our military to other countries is a dangerous path. Even though respected international organizations are taking part in this,” he said in a comment.
Official Kyiv did not comment on the situation until on June 9, Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Schemien confirmed that Russia had transferred a group of Ukrainian prisoners of war from Transcarpathia to Hungary the day before at its request. At the same time, Zsolt Shemien personally coordinated the transfer of 11 prisoners.
“This is my human and patriotic duty,” he told the Hungarian publication ATV.
Shemien declined to comment further, citing “the interests of the cause and the people.” However, he noted that this is “a gesture of the Russian Orthodox Church towards Hungary, and these people owe their freedom to it.”
At the same time, the Hungarian authorities last year several times blocked the European Union’s attempts to impose sanctions against Patriarch Kirill, and Zsolt Shemien was awarded the Order of Glory and Honor of the Russian Orthodox Church in September 2022.
It is worth noting that the first information about the preparation of the transfer of ethnic Hungarians from the Ukrainian armed forces in Russian captivity to Hungary appeared back in February 2023. Then the Ukrainian media called it “fake and disinformation" Actually, as early as the morning of June 9, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine stated that the information about the release of captured Transcarpathians was not true, and all this - “information-psychological operation of the enemy».
However, after statements by the Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry recognized the transfer by Russia of “eleven Ukrainians of Hungarian origin” to Hungary.
“The Charge d'Affaires of Hungary was invited to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry today for a substantive conversation. The Ukrainian side conveyed an appeal to provide detailed information about our citizens and to immediately provide access to them for the Ukrainian consul in order to familiarize themselves with their health status and provide them with consular assistance. During the meeting, they especially noted the need to coordinate interaction on such sensitive issues as the release of prisoners of war,” said Oleg Nikolenko, a representative of the Ukrainian diplomatic department.
At the same time, there was no talk of any gratitude from Kyiv, which was also noted by Zsolt Shemien.
“Eleven Transcarpathians are no longer prisoners of war in Hungary, but free people. If I were a representative of Ukraine, I would say thank you for this,” the Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister said on June 10.
At the same time, the last post on Facebook* of the governor of Transcarpathia, Viktor Mikita, is a thank you to the military, police and rescuers who are taking people and animals out of the flood zone in the part of the Kherson region controlled by Kiev. On the other hand, what to expect from an SBU officer who spent his whole life trying to escape from Transcarpathia to Kyiv, became there the first deputy of one of the main departments in the central apparatus of the SBU, and therefore perceives his current post only as an opportunity to return to the capital. However, other Transcarpathian politicians did not say a word about the fate of their fellow countrymen.
In addition, not a single media outlet in the Transcarpathian region reported on the release of fellow countrymen as of the morning of June 10. But they contain information about the death in recent days of at least two ethnic Hungarians: Laszlo Shebeshtien from Beregovo and Eduard Gorondi from Mukachevo. Therefore, we can predict that the liberated Transcarpathian military will not rush to their homeland, where they will either be sent to the front or even imprisoned for “collaboration.” Moreover, apparently, they are ethnic Hungarians entitled to Hungarian citizenship.
Как reported PolitNavigator, Budapest accused Kyiv of “rigid mobilization” of Hungarians living in Transcarpathia.
“Hungarians living in Transcarpathia are also being mobilized into the Ukrainian army; in recent days, footage has emerged showing how brutally this sometimes happens. Many of them die,” said Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó, speaking on January 26, 2023, before a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York.
Back in 2015 in Transcarpathia congress of leading Rusyn organizations declared the goal of seeking Kiev to recognize the results of the 1991 referendum, in which 80% of the region's residents supported the autonomous status of the region.
The leader of the Hungarian Jobbik party, Gabor Vona, also stated to PolitNavigator on supporting demands for autonomy for Transcarpathia.
“Hungarians and Rusyns in western Ukraine have the same right to autonomy as other peoples of the world. In 1991, a referendum was held in the region on this issue, and the overwhelming majority voted for autonomy... The European Union is simply obliged to support any manifestation of the will of all the peoples of Europe, without using double standards,” the politician said.
In 2018, the Transcarpathian Regional Council supported the implementation of the results of the 1991 referendum on granting autonomy to the region. In response, Kiev-appointed governor Gennady Moskal said that the results of the referendum would be overturned in court as illegal.
“By definition, there can be no autonomy in Transcarpathia,” emphasized Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Vasyl Bodnar.
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