The Russian government claims Ukraine is planning attacks on NATO, citing a Hungarian article

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Citing Hungarian media, Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, alleged that Ukraine is preparing sabotage operations in NATO member states, later blaming them on Russia: a claim tied to a single Hungarian article quoting an anonymous Telegram post.

From one article to an international affair

In a Telegram post on 26 September, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova pointed to “several Hungarian media” reporting alleged Ukrainian plans to stage sabotage in Poland and Romania and blame Russia: a claim first flagged by former Hungarian national security officer Péter Buda.

“Several Hungarian media outlets reported on Zelensky’s plans to carry out sabotage in Romania and Poland in order to blame Russia.”, Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram.

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Russian spokeswoman Maria Zakharova holding a press conference. Photo: Selçuk Acar/Anadolu

In reality, Zakharova appeared to refer to only one Hungarian site, Pestisrácok.hu, which cited an anonymous Telegram post without any verifiable source.

Hungarian news site Telex also covered the story, pointing out that Pestisrácok.hu’s 26 September article — titled “War in Ukraine: if you look at this map, you will never believe anyone saying it’s a stalemate again!” — was the cited article, which ended with the suggestion that Ukrainian special services, together with the armed forces, might be planning attacks and bombings on logistical hubs in Romania and Poland.

The author, Tamás Magyar B., did not provide any concrete source. He only wrote: “strange news is blowing on Telegram, and half of it is no longer a joke.” The article does not reveal which Telegram channel he was referring to, and journalists found no evidence that such information appeared elsewhere.

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Orbán and Putin. Photo: Facebook/Orbán Viktor

Despite this, Zakharova cited “several Hungarian media outlets” in her post, directly referencing the Pestisrácok.hu piece, effectively amplifying an unverified Hungarian article into the international information space.

The first link in a disinformation chain

Zakharova’s Telegram post was flagged by Péter Buda, a former senior Hungarian national security officer. In a blog entry, he noted that the case followed a classic Russian disinformation pattern: first, an unchecked claim appeared in a local outlet, then the Russian Foreign Ministry cited it in official communication, from where the claim was further spread.

“The spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry is accusing Ukraine of a false-flag operation based on an anonymous and unreferenced Telegram post,” Buda pointed out.

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5 Comments

  1. Fidesz has monopoly control over media in Hungary and has been putting out Kremlin propaganda for years to brainwash Hungarians to hate “the decadent West” , to hate Ukraine, and to love mother Russia. Hungarians Fidesz works for Russia and sold your sovereignty to Putin.

    • God, Larry, you’re tiresome.

      I don’t love Russia or even like it, let alone Putin.

      I do, however, see clearly that there are plenty of very powerful people in the West who are spoiling for a direct conflict with Russia. Just like they were determined to invade Iraq in ’03, they’re now chomping at the bits to start a third world war.

      With that in mind, we should ALL be extremely skeptical of any and all claims of sudden attacks emanating from Russia. Ukraine carried out at least one false-flag attack already (the Nord Stream pipeline), so we would be utter fools to not believe it might do something similar or worse again.

      • The Nordstream incident was a simple act of sabotage of enemy infrastructure. It doesn’t fulfil the definition of a ‘false flag’ operation. Naturally, Ukraine didn’t openly claim ownership, but I believe it’s now widely now that it was orchestrated by Ukraine based on public information. The act was no different to using drones to damage pipelines and refineries on Russian territory.

      • Michael no sane person wants a world war. Moreover, it has consistently been the Russians that have openly threatened it since their invasion began. The only aggression that has taken place in Europe now has been by Russia. You are reading too much Kremlin propaganda. Accepting that it was Ukrainian actors that sabotaged Nord Stream that was definitely in their interests to do so to stop the enemy that was attacking them from collecting gas revenues to fund their attacks.

        • @Larry, the biggest instigators of a third world war are the three Baltic States! Kallas, former Prime Minister of Estonia and now European Commissioner for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy is a dangerous person!Her hatred of Russia is such that she no longer thinks rationally! She is one of the greatest war drummers and together with Von der Leyen she does not know the word diplomacy! Both are also frustrated at being sidelined by the US! These two are, by the way, completely incompetent, given their political careers in their home countries, to guide the EU through this hornet’s nest! Not so long ago, Latvia declared that a preemptive strike on Russia is a possible option! These three Baltic States mean nothing militarily! They don’t even have their own fighter jets because every 4 months NATO countries protect their airspace! By the way, until the end of December it was Hungary’s turn, together with Italy and Spain! The Hungarian detachment consisting of 4 Grippens were then in command! The Hungarian Air Force then intercepted several Russian aircraft! Zelensky, together with von der Leyen and Kallas, is playing a dirty game in the run-up to the Hungarian elections! Zelensky is a cunning and dirty disrupter of the peace process! He is forced to do so by an obsessive Von der Leyen! She dreams of a European army alongside NATO which is complete bullshit! If this happens, it will mean the final death blow to NATO and Europe will be left completely alone! If you see what the US can deploy in such a short time in terms of enormous combat capacity against Iran, Europe will barely be able to mobilize even 20% of it! By the way, what the US has deployed now is for them a minimal fraction of their total capacity? If the EU continues to behave like this, they will become a sitting duck, not only militarily but also economically because of their Green Deal! Europe is being devastated by mass immigration of single, young, resilient Muslims! To be continued…

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