Pro-Kreml-Bots schreien vor Ungarn-Abstimmung „Mord“ (r/EuropeanPoliticalNews)

Why would they assassinate him a few weeks before the elections that he is about to lose? Like what’s the logic.

I think Hungarians have become wary enough to understand the Russian influence. I’ve got such high hopes for them in this election.

**Disinformation watchers warn of an unusually inflammatory campaign ahead of the April 12 election.**

March 26, 2026 5:07 pm CET

By [Eva Hartog](https://www.politico.eu/author/eva-hartog/)

In mid-March, a pro-Russian bot network began pushing a false and incendiary claim. 

A slickly produced video, circulated on X and falsely attributed to a Moldovan media outlet, alleged that Hungarians were being urged “to take up arms, resist the authorities and kill Viktor Orbán.”

The video is part of a highly targeted and unusually inflammatory Kremlin-linked campaign ahead of next month’s Hungarian election, according to findings shared with POLITICO by Antibot4Navalny — a group that tracks Russian influence operations. 

The clip surfaced just days before [the Washington Post reported](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/03/21/hungary-election-interference-russia-orban/) that Russian intelligence had considered staging an assassination attempt on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to boost his reelection chances.

The timing is curious, the misinformation researchers noted, as the Russian bot network — known as Matryoshka — has in the past typically only responded to news, not anticipated it. 

One possible explanation, Antibot4Navalny suggested, is that the group behind the bot network is taking a more proactive approach this time — setting the narrative rather than amplifying existing ones — or that it is coordinating more closely with Russian intelligence.

“Normally, Matryoshka only reacts to what becomes known to the public, and it takes at least 24 hours for them to come up with something exploiting the latest news,” said Antibot4Navalny in a text exchange on Signal. The group operates anonymously to avoid retaliation from the Kremlin.

The April 12 vote is seen as pivotal both in Brussels and in Moscow. At stake is the Kremlin’s sway over Hungary’s political course under Orbán, who has consistently stymied EU efforts to support Ukraine and isolate Russia.

The Kremlin has dismissed the Washington Post’s allegations as “yet another example of [Western] disinformation.” 

# Targeting Ukraine

Russia-linked bot networks have been tied to election interference campaigns in the United States, Germany, Poland, Moldova and Armenia.

But Antibot4Navalny said the Hungarian election is the first time Russian disinformation has explicitly promoted narratives about a deadly attack on a candidate or a military coup.

In the U.S., Matryoshka pushed assassination theories after — not before — the shooting in Butler that injured President Donald Trump, leveraging it as it would any other major news event.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pictured at Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain on March 18, 2026. | Francesco Militello Mirto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Moreover, Matryoshka’s messaging around the Hungarian election has been unusually focused, [centering ](https://x.com/antibot4navalny/status/2037110561519935598)on portraying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Ukraine more broadly, as presenting a threat to Orbán. 

In the past, the bots tended to proliferate a much wider range of narratives, as long as they propped up Moscow’s preferred candidate and smeared their opponent. 

“It could be that the real goal of Matryoshka these days is not the election outcome as such, but something we don’t fully understand yet,” Antibot4Navalny told POLITICO.

Moscow has denied accusations of any involvement in Hungarian politics. 

Following a claim in the same Washington Post article that Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó had briefed his Russian counterpart in between EU meetings, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused “Hungary’s enemies” of suffering from a “fevered imagination.”

Russian officials and pro-Kremlin commentators have instead accused Ukraine and Europe of seeking regime change in Budapest.

“Everyone understands that Ukraine is preparing a Maidan in Hungary,”wrote the pro-Russian pundit Vladimir Kornilov on Telegram earlier this week, referring to the 2014 revolution that ousted Ukraine’s pro-Kremlin President Viktor Yanukovych.

Compared to other elections, Matryoshka began its Hungarian election drive relatively late, about a month before the April vote, according to Antibot4Navalny.

In comparison, in Moldova, pro-Kremlin bot activity began five-and-a-half months ahead of the vote, and in Armenia, some eight months ahead. 

Since rolling out its first Hungarian campaign, the bot network has published up to 10 new videos a day. 

What the campaign lacks in duration, it makes up for in inflammatory content, the researchers said. 

One fabricated video, falsely branded with the logo of Ukrainian outlet United24, claims a senior Ukrainian official called for armed violence for the “liberation of Hungary through bloodshed” — another assertion for which there is no evidence.