Are Transcarpathian Hungarians taken by force to die against the Russians?
The Russian-Ukrainian war has been going on for 11 months. Masses lost their lives in the clashes. Among the losses, the 128th mountain hunting brigade in Munkács stands out, in which most Transcarpathian Hungarians serve. In the meantime, conscription began in Transcarpathia.
Many Transcarpathian Hungarians have died in the war
One of the morgues near Munkács is already filled with the corpses of soldiers killed on the Eastern Front, but their identification and release is being deliberately slowed down, writes magyarnemzet.hu. It was already a common practice that only five or six deaths were reported a day, while the number of victims was much higher. Among the latest victims are Iván Fejer and Sergeant Ivan Hluhanics. Iván Fejer, who served from the first day of the war, died on 18 January of his serious injuries sustained at Bahmut. He was an Árdánháza soldier, born in 1981. Moreover, Sergeant Ivan Hluhanics, the commander of the anti-tank missile unit of the 128th brigade, lost his life at the front. The 48-year-old soldier from Mércs died on 14 January while performing combat duty.
It should be noted, that these Hungarians are an indigenous minority in the territory of Ukraine, therefore, they count as Ukrainian citizens.
Viktor Traski from Transcarpathia serving in the 128th mountain hunting brigade:
Are Hungarians forced to fight against the Russians?
According to estimates, hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers and police have appeared in Transcarpathia in recent days, reports pestisracok.hu. They take a census, hand out invitations, and collect Hungarians on the street, in the market, on the bus, at the kindergarten and in the cafés. More and more videos are appearing on social media sites showing people being dragged from their homes on the street. According to a report, people were collected from a settlement relatively close to the Hungarian border by forcing the man, who was riding a bicycle peacefully, into a bus together with two or three soldiers’ bicycles. In addition, once a police car pulled in front of a man on a bicycle, forcing him to stop, writes Index.
According to another story, those returning home at the Hungarian-Ukrainian border can even receive a military call-up immediately. The border guards handed the summons to the man who was traveling home and then told him that he had one day to pack all the necessary things and report to the recruitment office.
It is not an anti-Hungarian measure
Another source reveals that conscription is not an anti-Hungarian measure. They target everyone, including Gypsies, Ukrainians and Ruthenians. It is not true that there are more raids in Hungarian villages, however, they started earlier than in the mountainous villages. Regarding the 128th brigade, it is exposed to the bloodier battles because it is considered a strong, well-trained brigade, an elite unit – not because Hungarians are in it.
Source: pestisracok.hu, magyarnemzet.hu, index.hu
Hmm, looks like the author answered their own question. They say its not an anti-Hungarian measure, but if the Ukrainian military is specifically sending a brigade to the bloodiest battles, even if they have experience, knowing full well that it is made up of Hungarian-Ukrainian. I would argue that yes, the military and government is ethnically cleansing. One way the Ukrainian government and military could counter this claim is making the brigade ethnic makeup more diverse and not just have it make up mostly by Hungarian-Ukrainians.
What it seems like is that the Ukrainian govenrnment/military is coping the Russian government and military tactics, by sending their ethnic minorities to do the bloodiest fighting.
I don’t believe a word of this. Orban and his mafia are deliberately pumping this stuff out to whip up hatred.
@Attila, I believe there is some truth to it. After all, Ukraine has banned teaching minority languages beyond primary levels (see the Al-Jazeera article if you don’t believe me). There already is some resentment/tension between the Ukrainian authorities and Hungarian-Ukrainians.
Thus, even if Ukraine isn’t doing this on purpose, it would benefit Ukraine by having its ethnic minorities take part in bloody battles and die and thus repopulate the area with non-Hungarian Ukrainians. We know that mandatory conscription is a thing in Ukraine and thus the ethnic minorities in Ukraine don’t have a choice in the say. This is all looking through the lens of realism and through history.
The point I’m saying is that maybe don’t have mandatory conscription for ethnic-indigenous minorities, because one can easily perceive the action as a form of ethnic cleansing without even needing to take in the judgement of foreign countries.
You might argue that they need to defend their nation. My counterclaim is that maybe they don’t feel like belonging and should have a say in the matter. Just like how Scotland should have another referendum to decide whether it should leave the UK after the UK blatantly lied in the previous referendum that if Scotland said no then the UK would stay in the EU.
The self-determination of all Indigenous and ethnic minorities should be respected in order to create peace. This also means, Russia also getting the heck out of Ukraine and respecting the self-determination of Ukrainians.
The article should be blaming ruzzians for this, not Ukraine. It’s their fault people of all the nationalities are dying every day. But Hungary keeps the friendship and welcomes ruzzian tourists and businesses. After everything soviets did, after having the Terror háza! History teaches you nothing?
@Kaitlin, it’s NOT the Ukrainian government’s fault for Russia’s invasion. However, IT IS the Ukrainian government’s fault FOR mandatory conscription.
Thus, why should Hungary expect Ukrainian friendship when Ukraine is forcing its ethnic minorities, such as Hungarian-Ukrainians to fight under conscription? Again, Ukraine has the RIGHT to defend itself, but the citizens should be the ones to choose if they want to take up arms and fight, especially its ethnic minorities. All Ukraine is doing is the exact same thing as Russia with regard to its treatment of ethnic minorities. In the end, it creates resentment and distrust among the ethnic minorities (ex: see how Canada forced people from Quebec to fight in WWI which led to massive riots).
Again, this goes back to my point of how they should have self-determination, especially if the country wants to force mandatory conscription on them.