‘I can guess who it is’: Hungary bans entry to Ukrainian commander over Druzhba pipeline strike — Popovych

“I can guess which commander we’re talking about here. He is also of Hungarian origin. They obviously want to ban him from entering Hungary, where it’s quite possible (though I don’t know for sure) he has relatives, and in this way put pressure on him and punish him,” Popovych said.

“At the moment, I can’t tell you if there have been similar practices in the past — I haven’t studied this particular issue. Maybe there were. In fact, if we look at Russia, I think many of our public figures and commanders have been in a similar situation. I even knew one who was charged in absentia there, and that effectively barred him from entering Russia, where he was born. But he lived and worked in Ukraine, and worked for Ukraine’s benefit. So this practice clearly exists.”

According to Popovych, Hungary’s decision fits a broader pattern of behavior that works against Ukraine.

“Now we see that Hungary is systematically acting against Ukraine. Beyond this ban, we heard they filed a lawsuit with the European Court over the use of income from frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine. In other words, Hungary is now doing many things that are against Ukraine and in Russia’s favor,” he said.

On the issue of Ukrainian strikes against the Druzhba pipeline, Popovych argued that the impact was felt more in Hungary than elsewhere.

“I think this affects the Hungarians most of all, because they want to use Russian oil for their own needs. It’s relatively cheap for them. Obviously, they may even be reselling it — we can’t rule that out. I don’t know, but if it’s cheap, they could be making a margin on reselling that oil. Exports of Russian petroleum products are banned, they’ve been blocked by strikes on Russian refineries. So I think this story concerns the Hungarians and Slovaks most of all. The Slovaks are less active in this, while the Hungarians are more active, in this way,” he said.