There is no proof that recorded combat vehicles are going to Ukraine

fakenews.pl 1 month ago

A recording of the night convoy appeared on social media. The entities making them available convince that combat vehicles are evidence of militarization of the conflict between Ukraine and Hungary – however, they do not inform about the festival completed a fewer days earlier, where the same models of vehicles were presented. The message is distributed through anonymous accounts and portals related to Russia.

Thesis:

The video is presented by a Hungarian military convoy heading to the border with Ukraine

Our evaluation:

No evidence

More about our evaluation system:

Event helmet

Ukrainian-Hungarian relations are tense. In the Communication of 9 May SBU informed about exposing 2 Ukrainian citizens who collected information on the state and position of Ukrainian troops for Hungary, as well as on the moods of the local population. The message shows that in the field of interest of the agents was the reaction of the Zakarpacia population to the hypothetical entry of the Hungarian peace quota.

As a result, Hungary accused of spying and removed 2 Ukrainian diplomats. It happened with mirror Answer of Kiev – Head of the Ukrainian MFA Andria Sybiha announced expulsion of 2 Hungarian diplomats. Despite the sharp reaction, the Hungarian authorities did not dispute the information previously provided by the SBU.

Exchange of punches between governments is accompanied by speculation on further developments. We have observed sensational reports of the alleged mobilisation of the Hungarian army circulating around the networks, along with multimedia provided for evidence. We besides found them in Polish-speaking social media – any accounts convinced that they had a recording of dense equipment crossing to the border with Ukraine.

A convoy recording and unjustified conclusions

13 May account @tomek525 posted on the X portal a recording of military vehicles passing the streets of the city at night. According to the comment, this is to be evidence of Hungarian territorial claims against Ukraine. The author stated that the clip shows Hungarian armored vehicles that have pulled off the transporters and are moving to the border. 4 machines appear on the video.

The entry won little than 9,000 hits, but published On 14 May on the same account, the continuation reached visibility of 300,000 views. This time, statements were accompanied by a map of the territory to be occupied by the Hungarian army. On the same day, profile @Conscious Aquarius listed the cities where the military is allegedly gathered: Záhony, Beregsurány, Tiszabecs, Barabás, Nagyhódos. This message could be found on X earlier – in English it was given, among others, by the beginning of a pro-Russian account @SMO_VZ (818,000 views) and @GlobalDiss (135.5 1000 hits).

The same clip was quoted on both X, Youtube or Telegram as well as on procremlow news services. We found him in the papers. blocked Lithuania Reporter; was besides part of the text on the propaganda portal pravda.ru, which cites the oligarch founded by Constantin Malofieev nationalist portal Cargrad.

The same combat vehicles were an attraction at the festival

Accounts spreading the recording convince that it proves the escalation of tensions between Ukraine and Hungary. There is, however, an explanation that allows us to reasonably presume that the convoy is of a completely different character.

Between 8 and 10 May the Ludovika festival was held in Budapest, part of which were military shows. We found it in the program. list military equipment shown in public at this year's festival. Among the six vehicles presented were filmed vehicles: Leopard 2A4HU tank, the KF-41 Lynx combat infantry car, the self-propelled Haubicoarmata PzH 2000 and the armored vehicle Gidrán. They were all attractions of earlier editions of the festival, which can be seen at recording of 2023.

Networked recording commented Hungarian tabloid Blikk, indicating that the vehicles were returning from Ludovika festival. The paper besides pointed out that the combat vehicles visible on the clip do not meet the criteria of the smallest organizational unit of the Hungarian army.

Narration of the Partition of Ukraine and Operation Turul

It is not only in the context of the collapse of Ukrainian-Hungarian relations, but besides the disinformation consistently spread by Russia since the invasion began. 1 of the recurring propaganda themes is the thesis on the dismantling of Ukraine, which would take place at the approval of the Kremlin. Narration exploits historical animosities, thus building distrust and fueling identity sentiments. Previously, thesis on partitioning was used, among another things, to discredit the aid granted to Ukraine by Poland [1, 2] about what We wrote Already on Fake News.

We have found more statements online promoting the imagination of a fast revision of borders by Hungary. On 10 May @HungaryBased account made available on X assembly of scenes from military exercises. "Operation Turul is coming. Zakarpacie's return to his homeland" commented the profile, scoring 1.1 million views. The announcement of the alleged operation and the accompanying clip were widely distributed by another profiles on social media. For information from @HungaryBased created previously quoted account @Conscious Aquarius.

Summary

We have not found evidence that the convoy's recording was a evidence to the militarization of the conflict between Hungary and Ukraine. The convoy's composition and the timing of the public evidence propose that combat vehicles were returning from Ludovika Festival in Budapest.

The clip distributed anonymous accounts and services related to Russia. The accompanying comments fuel a sense of danger and challenge the integrity of Western alliances. They are thus included in the recognized narratives of Russian propaganda, including the thesis on the partition of Ukraine by Russia, Poland, Hungary and Romania.

Unwarranted speculation was published during the actual diplomatic crisis, thus gaining credibility and confusing facts. The fast consequence of events increases the sense of urgency and promotes the dissemination of unconfirmed information to social media users.