Hungary expels Russian spy embedded in pro-Orban circles, report says
Szabolcs Toth/Unsplash
Hungary
quietly expelled a Russian intelligence officer who operated under diplomatic
cover and spent years recruiting staff at think tanks and academic institutions
close to outgoing PM Viktor Orban, local outlet VSquare reported on May 8,
citing several government sources.
According to VSquare, 36-year-old Artur Sushkov, a third secretary at the Russian embassy in Budapest, was forced to leave Hungary with his wife on May 4, 2026. Hungarian authorities identified him as an agent of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR).
The expulsion came months later than Hungary’s counterintelligence service had sought. VSquare reported that the Orban government blocked a proposed removal of Sushkov in February 2026 for political reasons, fearing a diplomatic rift with Moscow amid active Russian support for Orban’s re-election campaign. That stance changed after Orban’s defeat in parliamentary elections on April 12, 2026.
The counterintelligence operation targeting Sushkov was carried out by Hungary’s Constitutional Protection Office in cooperation with an unnamed NATO member’s security agency, VSquare said.
Sushkov’s activities allegedly focused on, among others, Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs (HIIA), and the John Lukacs Institute of Strategy and Policy at the Ludovik University of Public Service, which trains military, law enforcement, and intelligence personnel.
VSquare reported that Sushkov recruited informants, organized closed meetings and sought political information, including on Hungary’s relations with Ukraine. A source familiar with the diplomat’s work told the outlet that Sushkov had successfully begun recruiting at least three people. One recruit, a researcher with ties to both HIIA and the John Lukacs Institute, reportedly received training from a Russian intelligence officer in covert communications and attended secret meetings.
The report says Sushkov cultivated informants with expensive gifts while making it clear that larger payments were available in exchange for valuable information.
Even after Sushkov’s expulsion, officials from several NATO
countries told VSquare that at least a dozen identified or suspected SVR
officers remain at the Russian embassy in Budapest under diplomatic cover. That
figure does not include Russian intelligence officers believed to be working
for other agencies such as the GRU and the FSB.
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