Nearly half of the staff at Russia’s embassy in Hungary may have ties to intelligence services, the independent Russian investigative outlet Agentstvo found. Fifteen embassy employees have confirmed connections to the intelligence services, and six more are suspected of having such links, the outlet said, based on an analysis of leaked data spanning several years. Hungary’s Foreign Ministry lists 47 staff members at the Russian embassy.
Agentstvo profiled several of the employees with suspected intelligence ties:
- Vyacheslav Schmidt, 43, the embassy’s first counselor, worked as chief of staff of military unit No. 12423 — part of Russia’s Strategic Rocket Forces — in 2011, according to leaked data. In 2024, he was registered at a Moscow address shared by at least three Russian military intelligence (GRU) officers.
- Alexei Shaposhnikov, 41, another first counselor, is listed in an acquaintance’s phone contacts as “Lyosha FSB-guy.”
- Sergei Lelyuk, 58, the embassy’s trade representative, worked at Russia’s Defense Ministry in 2002–2003, leaked records show. In 2025, his registered Moscow address was a building where three GRU officers live.
Some embassy employees may have no direct intelligence connections, but their registered addresses, educational backgrounds, or prior employment suggest possible ties, Agentstvo said.
Russian intelligence services are more deeply embedded in the Russian embassy in Hungary than in Belgium, where NATO’s headquarters and several EU institutions are based, Agentstvo reported. The outlet said this may indicate heightened Kremlin attention to Hungary, where parliamentary elections are being held this weekend.
Financial Times and The Washington Post have previously reported that Russia is actively working to help Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party win the elections. Moscow has denied interfering in Hungary’s election campaign.
U.S. authorities have also expressed support for Orban ahead of the parliamentary vote.
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