{"id":1874528,"date":"2026-04-09T14:04:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T11:04:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1874528"},"modified":"2026-04-09T14:04:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T11:04:33","slug":"fact-check-orban-points-to-ukraine-over-pipeline-bomb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1874528","title":{"rendered":"Fact check: Orban points to Ukraine over pipeline bomb"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/static.dw.com\/image\/76704938_6.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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https:\/\/p.dw.com\/p\/5BmpS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n
Serbian military police officers stand guard near vehicles as explosive materials are reported to be found close to a gas pipeline connecting Serbia and Hungary.Image: Ministry of Defence Republic of Serbia\/Handout\/Anadolu\/picture alliance<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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During Easter, Serbian officials discovered two backpacks<\/a>\u00a0containing bombs and detonators near a key gas pipeline that transports Russian gas through the Balkans to Hungary. \u00a0<\/p>\n

“Our \u2060units \u2060found an explosive of devastating power,”\u00a0Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in a post on Instagram.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban<\/a>\u00a0and his Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto immediately hinted that the Ukrainians were to blame. DW Fact check<\/a> had a closer look.<\/p>\n

Who was behind the plot?\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Claim<\/strong>: “The Ukrainians organized an oil blockade against us, then tried to put us under a total energy blockade by firing dozens of drones at the TurkStream pipeline while it was still on Russian territory, and now there is today’s incident, where Serbian colleagues found explosives sufficient to blow up the pipeline next to the TurkStream pipeline,”<\/em>\u00a0Szijjarto said<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0 an\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Instagram video on April 5.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We reject in the strongest possible terms this latest attack on our sovereignty, because an attack on the security of our energy supply cannot be interpreted as anything other than an attack on our sovereignty.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Fact
Image: Dursun Aydemir \/ AA \/ picture allliance<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

DW Fact check<\/strong>: Misleading<\/p>\n

While Szijjarto stopped short of explicitly blaming the Ukrainians, the insinuation was clear: Ukraine had planned a sabotage operation on the pipeline. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Serbian investigators, however, have denied any connection between the explosives that were found near the TurkStream pipeline and Ukraine. \u00a0<\/p>\n

“It is not true that Ukrainians tried to organize this sabotage,” said<\/a>\u00a0Duro Jovanic,<\/strong>\u00a0director of the Serbian Military Security Agency (VBA), in a press conference, according to a Serbian news outlet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, the explosives were placed a few hundred meters from the TurkStream pipeline, which supplies more than half of Hungary\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0gas. Serbian authorities have launched an investigation to determine the origin of the explosives and the circumstances of their placement. \u00a0<\/p>\n

To date, no verifiable evidence has been made public to identify the possible perpetrators. The materials were originally manufactured in the United States, though the origin of the materials is not sufficient to determine the perpetrator, according to officials. \u00a0<\/p>\n

A sign of desperation<\/h2>\n

Ukraine also denied any involvement. “We categorically reject attempts to falsely link Ukraine to the incident with explosives found near the Turkstream pipeline in Serbia,”\u00a0Heorhii Tykhyi, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote<\/a>on X.<\/p>\n

“Ukraine has nothing to do with this. Most probably, it is a Russian<\/a>\u00a0false-flag operation as part of Moscow’s heavy interference in Hungarian elections.”\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

To Donatienne Ruy, a Europe and Russia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, it was a sign of “desperation.” <\/p>\n

Coincidence or not,\u00a0the explosives were found just six days before Hungarians elections, which will be held on April 12.\u00a0In the opinion polls, Orban and his ruling party Fidesz\u00a0trail behind the opposition\u00a0party Tisza.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Immediately, Viktor Orban seized on this \u2014 and not just him, people in his government as well \u2014 to really inflate the risk of attacks,” said Ruy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After the explosives were found, Orban rushed to the Hungarian side of the border with soldiers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The same day, he made a statement connecting the incident to a broader pattern of Ukraine targeting Hungary’s energy supplies, saying “Ukraine’s ambitions pose a mortal threat to Hungary”.<\/p>\n

A false flag operation?<\/h2>\n

Hungarian intelligence officials were predicting back in February that an attack on energy infrastructure might be engineered and blamed on Ukraine in the lead-up to the vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Weeks before the Serbia pipeline incident, Hungarian security analyst Andras Racz published<\/a>a fictional narrative on Facebook describing, in striking detail, a Russian false flag operation involving Ukrainian explosives targeting energy infrastructure right before the election. Then, three days before the explosives were found, Racz made another post<\/a>, specifying that the operation would target the TurkStream pipeline in Serbia<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Serbien
The construction site of a section of the TurkStream gas pipeline in 2019.Image: Pavel Bushuyev\/TASS\/dpa\/picture alliance<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The energy blame game\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Ukraine and Hungary have a tense relationship, especially regarding energy infrastructure<\/a>. Hungary imports the vast majority<\/a> of its oil \u2014 some 93% \u2014 from Russia, making it uniquely dependent on pipelines compared to other EU states. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The Druzhba pipeline, which carries oil from Russia through Ukraine into Hungary, has also become a flashpoint<\/a> during the Hungarian election. Ukraine has said that Russian attacks on the pipeline forced a halt to oil flows; Hungary has said it\u2019s a deliberate blockade and that Ukraine has slow-rolled repairs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hungary has also cited<\/a>Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian compressor stations feeding TurkStream as evidence of a deliberate campaign against its energy supply. The Ukraine-based Kyiv Independent was unable to verify<\/a>that claim. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Orban’s promise to keep cheap Russian oil flowing has been the cornerstone of his election campaign. He has repeatedly blamed<\/a>Ukraine for threatening Hungary\u2019s energy security and is often the only EU member state to oppose sanctions on Russia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Orban has really erected Zelenskyy<\/a>\u00a0as a scapegoat for everything that’s happening in Hungary,”\u00a0Ruy said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Edited by: Astrid Prange<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

\n

During Easter, Serbian officials discovered two backpacks<\/a>\u00a0containing bombs and detonators near a key gas pipeline that transports Russian gas through the Balkans to Hungary. \u00a0<\/p>\n

“Our \u2060units \u2060found an explosive of devastating power,”\u00a0Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in a post on Instagram.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban<\/a>\u00a0and his Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto immediately hinted that the Ukrainians were to blame. DW Fact check<\/a> had a closer look.<\/p>\n

Who was behind the plot?\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Claim<\/strong>: “The Ukrainians organized an oil blockade against us, then tried to put us under a total energy blockade by firing dozens of drones at the TurkStream pipeline while it was still on Russian territory, and now there is today’s incident, where Serbian colleagues found explosives sufficient to blow up the pipeline next to the TurkStream pipeline,”<\/em>\u00a0Szijjarto said<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0 an\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Instagram video on April 5.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We reject in the strongest possible terms this latest attack on our sovereignty, because an attack on the security of our energy supply cannot be interpreted as anything other than an attack on our sovereignty.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Fact
Image: Dursun Aydemir \/ AA \/ picture allliance<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

DW Fact check<\/strong>: Misleading<\/p>\n

While Szijjarto stopped short of explicitly blaming the Ukrainians, the insinuation was clear: Ukraine had planned a sabotage operation on the pipeline. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Serbian investigators, however, have denied any connection between the explosives that were found near the TurkStream pipeline and Ukraine. \u00a0<\/p>\n

“It is not true that Ukrainians tried to organize this sabotage,” said<\/a>\u00a0Duro Jovanic,<\/strong>\u00a0director of the Serbian Military Security Agency (VBA), in a press conference, according to a Serbian news outlet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, the explosives were placed a few hundred meters from the TurkStream pipeline, which supplies more than half of Hungary\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0gas. Serbian authorities have launched an investigation to determine the origin of the explosives and the circumstances of their placement. \u00a0<\/p>\n

To date, no verifiable evidence has been made public to identify the possible perpetrators. The materials were originally manufactured in the United States, though the origin of the materials is not sufficient to determine the perpetrator, according to officials. \u00a0<\/p>\n

A sign of desperation<\/h2>\n

Ukraine also denied any involvement. “We categorically reject attempts to falsely link Ukraine to the incident with explosives found near the Turkstream pipeline in Serbia,”\u00a0Heorhii Tykhyi, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote<\/a>on X.<\/p>\n

“Ukraine has nothing to do with this. Most probably, it is a Russian<\/a>\u00a0false-flag operation as part of Moscow’s heavy interference in Hungarian elections.”\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

To Donatienne Ruy, a Europe and Russia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, it was a sign of “desperation.” <\/p>\n

Coincidence or not,\u00a0the explosives were found just six days before Hungarians elections, which will be held on April 12.\u00a0In the opinion polls, Orban and his ruling party Fidesz\u00a0trail behind the opposition\u00a0party Tisza.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Immediately, Viktor Orban seized on this \u2014 and not just him, people in his government as well \u2014 to really inflate the risk of attacks,” said Ruy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After the explosives were found, Orban rushed to the Hungarian side of the border with soldiers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The same day, he made a statement connecting the incident to a broader pattern of Ukraine targeting Hungary’s energy supplies, saying “Ukraine’s ambitions pose a mortal threat to Hungary”.<\/p>\n

A false flag operation?<\/h2>\n

Hungarian intelligence officials were predicting back in February that an attack on energy infrastructure might be engineered and blamed on Ukraine in the lead-up to the vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Weeks before the Serbia pipeline incident, Hungarian security analyst Andras Racz published<\/a>a fictional narrative on Facebook describing, in striking detail, a Russian false flag operation involving Ukrainian explosives targeting energy infrastructure right before the election. Then, three days before the explosives were found, Racz made another post<\/a>, specifying that the operation would target the TurkStream pipeline in Serbia<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Serbien
The construction site of a section of the TurkStream gas pipeline in 2019.Image: Pavel Bushuyev\/TASS\/dpa\/picture alliance<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The energy blame game\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Ukraine and Hungary have a tense relationship, especially regarding energy infrastructure<\/a>. Hungary imports the vast majority<\/a> of its oil \u2014 some 93% \u2014 from Russia, making it uniquely dependent on pipelines compared to other EU states. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The Druzhba pipeline, which carries oil from Russia through Ukraine into Hungary, has also become a flashpoint<\/a> during the Hungarian election. Ukraine has said that Russian attacks on the pipeline forced a halt to oil flows; Hungary has said it\u2019s a deliberate blockade and that Ukraine has slow-rolled repairs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hungary has also cited<\/a>Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian compressor stations feeding TurkStream as evidence of a deliberate campaign against its energy supply. The Ukraine-based Kyiv Independent was unable to verify<\/a>that claim. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Orban’s promise to keep cheap Russian oil flowing has been the cornerstone of his election campaign. He has repeatedly blamed<\/a>Ukraine for threatening Hungary\u2019s energy security and is often the only EU member state to oppose sanctions on Russia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Orban has really erected Zelenskyy<\/a>\u00a0as a scapegoat for everything that’s happening in Hungary,”\u00a0Ruy said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Edited by: Astrid Prange<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

During Easter, Serbian officials discovered two backpacks<\/a>\u00a0containing bombs and detonators near a key gas pipeline that transports Russian gas through the Balkans to Hungary. \u00a0<\/p>\n

“Our \u2060units \u2060found an explosive of devastating power,”\u00a0Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in a post on Instagram.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban<\/a>\u00a0and his Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto immediately hinted that the Ukrainians were to blame. DW Fact check<\/a> had a closer look.<\/p>\n

Claim<\/strong>: “The Ukrainians organized an oil blockade against us, then tried to put us under a total energy blockade by firing dozens of drones at the TurkStream pipeline while it was still on Russian territory, and now there is today’s incident, where Serbian colleagues found explosives sufficient to blow up the pipeline next to the TurkStream pipeline,”<\/em>\u00a0Szijjarto said<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0 an\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Instagram video on April 5.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We reject in the strongest possible terms this latest attack on our sovereignty, because an attack on the security of our energy supply cannot be interpreted as anything other than an attack on our sovereignty.”<\/em><\/p>\n

DW Fact check<\/strong>: Misleading<\/p>\n

While Szijjarto stopped short of explicitly blaming the Ukrainians, the insinuation was clear: Ukraine had planned a sabotage operation on the pipeline. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Serbian investigators, however, have denied any connection between the explosives that were found near the TurkStream pipeline and Ukraine. \u00a0<\/p>\n

“It is not true that Ukrainians tried to organize this sabotage,” said<\/a>\u00a0Duro Jovanic,<\/strong>\u00a0director of the Serbian Military Security Agency (VBA), in a press conference, according to a Serbian news outlet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, the explosives were placed a few hundred meters from the TurkStream pipeline, which supplies more than half of Hungary\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0gas. Serbian authorities have launched an investigation to determine the origin of the explosives and the circumstances of their placement. \u00a0<\/p>\n

To date, no verifiable evidence has been made public to identify the possible perpetrators. The materials were originally manufactured in the United States, though the origin of the materials is not sufficient to determine the perpetrator, according to officials. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Ukraine also denied any involvement. “We categorically reject attempts to falsely link Ukraine to the incident with explosives found near the Turkstream pipeline in Serbia,”\u00a0Heorhii Tykhyi, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote<\/a>on X.<\/p>\n

“Ukraine has nothing to do with this. Most probably, it is a Russian<\/a>\u00a0false-flag operation as part of Moscow’s heavy interference in Hungarian elections.”\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

To Donatienne Ruy, a Europe and Russia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, it was a sign of “desperation.” <\/p>\n

Coincidence or not,\u00a0the explosives were found just six days before Hungarians elections, which will be held on April 12.\u00a0In the opinion polls, Orban and his ruling party Fidesz\u00a0trail behind the opposition\u00a0party Tisza.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Immediately, Viktor Orban seized on this \u2014 and not just him, people in his government as well \u2014 to really inflate the risk of attacks,” said Ruy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After the explosives were found, Orban rushed to the Hungarian side of the border with soldiers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The same day, he made a statement connecting the incident to a broader pattern of Ukraine targeting Hungary’s energy supplies, saying “Ukraine’s ambitions pose a mortal threat to Hungary”.<\/p>\n

Hungarian intelligence officials were predicting back in February that an attack on energy infrastructure might be engineered and blamed on Ukraine in the lead-up to the vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Weeks before the Serbia pipeline incident, Hungarian security analyst Andras Racz published<\/a>a fictional narrative on Facebook describing, in striking detail, a Russian false flag operation involving Ukrainian explosives targeting energy infrastructure right before the election. Then, three days before the explosives were found, Racz made another post<\/a>, specifying that the operation would target the TurkStream pipeline in Serbia<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ukraine and Hungary have a tense relationship, especially regarding energy infrastructure<\/a>. Hungary imports the vast majority<\/a> of its oil \u2014 some 93% \u2014 from Russia, making it uniquely dependent on pipelines compared to other EU states. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The Druzhba pipeline, which carries oil from Russia through Ukraine into Hungary, has also become a flashpoint<\/a> during the Hungarian election. Ukraine has said that Russian attacks on the pipeline forced a halt to oil flows; Hungary has said it\u2019s a deliberate blockade and that Ukraine has slow-rolled repairs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hungary has also cited<\/a>Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian compressor stations feeding TurkStream as evidence of a deliberate campaign against its energy supply. The Ukraine-based Kyiv Independent was unable to verify<\/a>that claim. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Orban’s promise to keep cheap Russian oil flowing has been the cornerstone of his election campaign. He has repeatedly blamed<\/a>Ukraine for threatening Hungary\u2019s energy security and is often the only EU member state to oppose sanctions on Russia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Orban has really erected Zelenskyy<\/a>\u00a0as a scapegoat for everything that’s happening in Hungary,”\u00a0Ruy said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Edited by: Astrid Prange<\/em><\/p>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/fact-check-orban-points-to-ukraine-over-pipeline-bomb\/a-76690990″]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/static.dw.com\/image\/76704938_6.jpg”] https:\/\/p.dw.com\/p\/5BmpS Serbian military police officers stand guard near vehicles as explosive materials are reported to be found close to a gas pipeline connecting Serbia and Hungary.Image: Ministry of Defence Republic of Serbia\/Handout\/Anadolu\/picture alliance During Easter, Serbian officials discovered two backpacks\u00a0containing bombs and detonators near a key gas pipeline that transports Russian gas […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,74],"class_list":["post-1874528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dw-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1874528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1874528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1874528\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1874528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1874528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1874528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}