Reconnaissance drones from Hungary: Zelenskyy instructs military to respond, Budapest denies

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported in his evening address that he instructed the military to "respond accordingly" to reconnaissance drones on the border with Hungary. At the same time, the latter's Ministry of Defense denied any information about the UAV incidents in the comments to Hungarian media outlet Telex.

"There was a report from our military about, frankly, very strange events on the border between Ukraine and Hungary. Our military spotted drones, and they were reconnaissance drones. I have instructed the military to conduct a full inspection and, if there are any more such drones, to react accordingly for the defense of our state," Zelenskyy said.

Meanwhile, the Hungarian Ministry of Defense said that "the statement of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy that there was a Hungarian military drone on the territory of Ukraine is not true." In fact, the leader of Ukraine noted that it is, probably, were Hungarian UAVs, not saying that they belonged to Budapest.

The Hungarian DM claims that the country's army did not carry out or receive orders to fly drones on the Hungarian-Ukrainian border, and Budapest did not receive such information from the Ukrainian side, although "we are in constant contact with them."

The defense ministry said that several months ago the Hungarian government strengthened the protection of the airspace in the east of the country.

"The Adaptive Hussars 2025 NATO defense exercise will continue in Hungary until mid-October. Not only our NATO allies, but also the Ukrainian side are constantly informed about the exercises," the statement claims.

UPDATE. On Friday, September 26, a drone violated the Ukrainian border twice from Hungary, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported, and showed maps with the UAV's location.

• On the evening of September 26, Zelenskyy said that during a military meeting, Armed Forces chief Syrskyi reported on the arrival of reconnaissance drones in Ukraine on the border with Hungary perhaps they belong to Budapest.

• Previously, these UAVs could have been used to conduct reconnaissance on industrial potential in the border areas. Ukraine borders Hungary only in the Zakarpattia region.

• The Hungarian foreign minister responded to the Ukrainian president's statement by saying that he was "beginning to see something that is not really there." Sybiha responded to him, accusing him of serving the Kremlin.