Ukrainian prisoners of war handed over by Russia to Hungary reveals exchange conditions for the first time

Two Ukrainian prisoners of war, whom Russia handed over to Hungary last year as part of a group of 11 people, claim that Budapest has put forward a condition for them not to come back to Ukraine until the end of the war.

Source: European Pravda with reference to DW

Details: One of DW's sources spoke about the interrogation by the Russian Federal Security Service after the prisoners were brought to Moscow. "Hungary told Russia that our grandmothers could have been Hungarians, so they are taking their people," DW's sources added.

Former prisoners of war also claim that out of the 11 people Russia handed over to Hungary, only one is an ethnic Hungarian. "But I was told: either you say the right thing - that you are Hungarian - or there is no guarantee that you will be brought back," said one of them.

The 11 men were taken by plane first to Istanbul, then to Budapest. There, they were put up in a hotel and asked not to walk around the city until they received refugee status. The men were also allowed to call their relatives and invite them to visit.

Two of the men say that representatives of Hungary put forward a condition for former prisoners not to come back to Ukraine until the end of the war; otherwise, "such releases will not take place again."

In the end, five military personnel still came back to Ukraine by contacting the Ukrainian Embassy in Budapest for help: it helped with the documents and provided a diplomatic vehicle for escorting across the border.

After that, Vlasta Reipashi, as the former representative of the сommissioner for missing persons in Zakarpattia, confirmed the next transfer of prisoners of war from Russia to Hungary did not take place.

Background:

• In June 2023, it became known that 11 Ukrainian prisoners of war had been taken to Hungary, allegedly with the assistance of the Russian Orthodox Church. At the time, the Hungarian official authorities denied any involvement in this.
• Earlier, journalists had unofficially learned that Ukrainian defenders who had been transferred from Russia to Hungary were allegedly threatened with punishment in Ukraine if they decided to come home.

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