Death of mobilized Transcarpathian man, whose injuries and Hungarian ethnicity Ukraine disputes may further impair Hungarian-Ukrainian relations

A few days after being mobilized, an ethnic Hungarian man from Ukraine's Transcarpathia region was hospitalized and consequently died on July 6. The Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Ukraine's ambassador to Budapest, Sándor Fegyir on Thursday to address the case.

There are many questions surrounding the death of 45-year-old József S., and given the state of Hungarian-Ukrainian relations and the Hungarian government's objections with regard to the situation of Hungarians in Transcarpathia, it is an especially sensitive matter. This makes it particularly important to thoroughly investigate the case so as to clarify whether the man indeed sustained injuries after being mobilized and whether he suffered abuse on account of his Hungarian nationality. The Ukrainian side rejects both possibilities.

The official Ukrainian narrative greatly diverges from the account of those in the town of Berehove who knew the deceased. The bizarre video recording of József, presumably taken on the second day of his training, is not helpful in clarifying the situation either. According to those who were close to József, his back was severely beaten, several of his ribs were broken, there was swelling on his head, and before his death he told his lawyer that he had been beaten in the military. However, none of this is mentioned in the official Ukrainian documents.

He wasn't hiding from conscription

József lived in Berehove with his wife, and according to anonymous sources Telex spoke with, he wasn't hiding around town to evade being called up, but continued to work – he was running his guesthouse in Dijda.

What is known for sure is as follows:

• József was stopped for an ID check by military conscription officers on 15 June, and as he was within mobilization age (25-60) they took him in, and later transferred him to the 128th Brigade in Mukachevo for military training.
• On 19 June, he was admitted to the Bertolon Linner District Hospital in Berehove, and five days later he ended up in the city's psychiatric hospital, where he died in early July.
• His family buried him on July 9.
• According to the official report, his death was caused by a blood clot that had travelled from his leg to his lungs.

However, the statement he made to his lawyer just days before his death, in which he reported injuries that were not documented in the medical records raises multiple questions. There is also uncertainty about exactly what happened between 15 June and 19 June during the training in Mukachevo, how he was transferred to the hospital in Berehove, and the treatment he received there, given that József's family and Ukrainian diplomatic sources have different accounts of these days.

According to the Ukrainian side, Joszif deserted the army

The command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (ZSZU) has also spoken out on the matter, which is already causing a new wave of diplomatic tension between Ukraine and Hungary. According to their statement, they expressed their deepest sympathy to the man's family and promise to investigate the case, but they also state that he was a Ukrainian citizen – one of the Ukrainian diplomatic sources we spoke with also interpreted this as meaning that József was not of Hungarian nationality, and his name was Joszip – and besides, he failed to report for duty on 18 June, which essentially means that he deserted his post.

“He left the military unit recorded in the official investigation of his own volition, without weapons,” the statement said, adding that József then reported to the hospital in person the following day.

However, this partly reduces the severity of the claim of desertion, as according to a regulation adopted in 2024, if a soldier shows up at his place of service himself, he may be exempted from legal consequences, and his showing up at a hospital which is partially under military control is essentially equivalent to this.

"We categorically reject the allegation that cruel treatment or human rights violations have taken place [at the military command] or in other parts of the armed forces," the statement additionally says, noting that the Ukrainian side expects "the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states" to be observed with regard to the investigation.

"We call on the media, the public and representatives of foreign governments to refrain from disseminating unverified or emotionally charged information that could be used as a tool of a hostile state's destructive influence or intelligence operations," they wrote.

The fewer soldiers there are, the greater the pressure

"There’s no question that those responsible for checks have become much more aggressive all over the country. It's also become easier to get on the wanted list. One can end up there just by failing to have their data in the military register updated, but more recently this can also happen if they are not able to notify a Ukrainian citizen because he does not have a registered address in Ukraine," a source in Transcarpathia said. They noted that this is not only the case in Transcarpathia or its areas populated by ethnic Hungarians – as now, in the fourth year of the war against Russia, the pressure for the state to reach those who can be mobilized throughout the country and send them to the front has increased.

Some have said that “the military patrol officers responsible for mobilization have become brazen,” and they have recently been deployed to regions further away from where they live so that personal connections would not influence their work. On the one hand, this helps to eliminate potential corruption, but it also makes it easier for them to apply harsh measures against those concerned, even if these measures border on illegality. For this reason it cannot be ruled out that this forceful approach could even lead to acts of abuse and the violation of the rules. The most important question in relation to József's death, (which was first reported by his sister on Facebook, although she later changed the setting to private), is whether the authorities had subjected him to abusive treatment during the mobilization.

News websites close to the Hungarian government – which considers Ukraine to be a warmonger – such as Mandiner, which was the first to report on József's death in Hungary, are treating the abuse as fact. We first addressed our questions to the Ukrainian embassy, and eventually, through diplomatic sources, the Ukrainian side stated that, based on a discussion with the head of the Beregszász branch of the RTCK and SZK – the regional center responsible for military recruitment and social benefits, it can be stated that no abuse had occurred during the mobilization. József did not explicitly make such a claim either; according to his alleged last statement, he was subjected to abuse in Mukachevo, and those around him likewise reported a conversation to that effect.

There is no doubt that József was taken to Mukachevo for training – he may have been beaten there. There is a bizarre video of him which unfortunately does not make the situation any more clear. It was presumably made at the training ground in Mukachevo, but the time of recording and the circumstances of its publication are also unclear. The recording shows József on the training ground, crawling on all fours, complaining of pain. “Why are you crawling?” “My back hurts,” József replies to the soldier filming him, then explains that he was injured by the metal pipes that hold up the tents. After this, the person filming for some reason asks: "But you weren't abused, were you ?” to which József – still on his knees – replies that he was not. It is unclear why the questioner felt the need to ask about the possibility of beatings in order to receive a negative answer.

This recording was allegedly made on the 17th, and according to official Ukrainian documents, József escaped – i.e., did not report for duty – the following day.

Was he in hospital or in an unknown location?

However, according to József's acquaintances in Berehove, he was admitted to a medical facility in Mukachevo on the 17th, but was afterwards returned to the training facility, and was released on the 18th – at least according to the statement attributed to him. He then allegedly walked 30 kilometers from there to Dijda, and then ended up in a hospital in Berehove.

At this point, the documents presented by the Ukrainian side once again differ from the accounts of József's acquaintances, as according to official documents, József fled the army, which was discovered on the 18th. However, the military police did not initiate proceedings at first, so József was not a wanted man. According to the Ukrainian side, József was discharged from the hospital on the 19th, the same day he checked himself in, and he only returned five days later, but this time to the psychiatric ward.

However, according to other sources, József remained at the Bertolon Linner Hospital on the 19th and fell into a coma two days later at the same location. Then on 24 June, while still unconscious, he was taken to the psychiatric ward, where he was given an injection. He regained consciousness and even walked about for a while, speaking incoherently, but from the following day until his death, he did not utter a word.

In other words, according to the documents, during the time his acquaintances claim he was in a coma, he was not even in hospital, and based on the paperwork, he only reappeared in the system at the exact time when, according to personal accounts, he had regained consciousness following his transfer – the justification for which is questionable.

He spoke with his lawyer between the 19th and 21st, i.e. at the time when, according to the Ukrainian side, József was not even in hospital. After 24 June, he was unable to speak coherently until his death on 6 July.

His acquaintances saw injuries, but the medical log knows of none

According to the medical records, everything was fine with him and he didn't have any injuries. According to personal accounts, however, the dark swelling on his head was examined several times, but allegedly nothing noteworthy was found. However, József ultimately died of a blood clot, but according to medical records, the blood clot formed in his leg, where, according to József, he did not receive a beating.

József's friends and family claim that the Ukrainian side is trying to shift the blame, while the Ukrainians suggest that this is a case of disinformation and malicious political interpretation, which suits the Orbán government's anti-Ukraine campaign. However, without clarity, József's death could additionally burden the relationship between Ukraine, which continues to be under attack from Russia and which accuses the Hungarian government of being pro-Russian, and the Hungarian leadership, which accuses Kyiv of fomenting war and, hence, rejects the idea of Ukraine's EU membership.