“Ukrainian prisoners of war” were handed over to Hungary, said the Russian Orthodox Church as mediator. Kiev regretted not having been involved in the negotiations on Friday.
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The transfer took place on Thursday “with the blessing” of Patriarch Kirill, “in the context of inter-church cooperation and at the request of the Hungarian side,” the Moscow Patriarchate said in a statement, citing “Christian humanity.”
According to the same source, the group hails from Zakarpattia, a region in western Ukraine that is home to a large Magyar community.
“This is a gesture of the Russian Orthodox Church towards Hungary, these people owe their freedom to her,” Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister in charge of religious affairs Zsolt Semjen told the atv.hu website.
He declined to provide any further information “to protect the interests of those affected”.
The government contacted by AFP did not respond immediately.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban maintains contacts with the Kremlin and has established close ties with the Russian Orthodox Church. Thanks to his support, Kirill, a staunch supporter of Vladimir Putin’s military offensive against Ukraine, escaped EU sanctions last year in the name of defending “religious freedom”.
The Hungarian head of state also maintains complicated relations with Kiev, which he does not want to help militarily.
The dispute between the two neighboring countries is not new, Hungary has long criticized a series of laws that tighten the use of the Ukrainian language, to the detriment of the Magyar minority in Transcarpathia.
While welcoming “the release of prisoners of war, which is always good news”, the Ukrainian authorities regretted having been informed by the media that 11 Ukrainians of Magyar origin were affected.
The embassy’s chargé d’affaires were received at the Foreign Ministry for “a substantive discussion,” said spokesman Oleg Nikolenko on Facebook.
Kyiv required detailed information about its citizens in order to provide them with consular assistance and “stressed the need for cooperative cooperation in such sensitive matters”.
The website atv.hu recalled the possible role of Pope Francis, who is multiplying calls for peace in Ukraine and strongly condemning an “absurd and cruel” war.
In September 2022, in an interview published in a Jesuit magazine, the sovereign pope said he had played a mediating role with Russia to speed up the release of some 300 Ukrainian prisoners.