The Hungarian prime minister has accused Ukraine of planning to disrupt Hungary’s energy system.
Viktor Orban, one of Vladimir Putin’s closest allies in Europe, ordered the deployment of soldiers to safeguard critical infrastructure in a move that will only deepen tensions with Kyiv.
His comments come after an outage along the Druzhba pipeline that carries Russian crude oil to Hungary and Slovakia (more in 12.40pm post).
Both blamed Ukraine, while Kyiv said it was caused by a Russian drone strike.
Orban claimed the shutdown was for “political, not technical, reasons” and said intelligence reports show possible further disruption to Hungary’s energy system.
“I see that Ukraine is preparing further actions to disrupt the operation of the Hungarian energy system,” Orban said online.
“Therefore, I have ordered the reinforcement of protection for critical energy infrastructure.
“This means that we will deploy soldiers and equipment necessary to repel attacks near key energy facilities.”
Hungary and Slovakia have maintained ties with Moscow throughout the war and even clashed heads with EU partners over their military support of Ukraine.
On Monday Hungary even stood by a veto on EU sanctions for Russia and a huge loan for Ukraine.
Orban has long maintained a close relationship with Vladimir Putin, too.
The pair have met several times during the duration of the war.
