Some pics

All fine. God bless air defence last night. Expected worse news today about Kyiv

They're fine thankfully. The attack could have been a lot worse, it sounded worse. Air defence did it's job well

Seems it was the case thank god but the last thing I heard from some friends for a while was "it's really loud and close" which is always unnerving.

Yeah absolutely. There's a few worrying signs and it cannot be tolerated

You can also listen to me talk to a Zakarpattian on our podcast: END OF THREAD shows.acast.com/nafo-think-t...

Oh, fun fact, Andy Warhol and Milton Friedman both have connections to this region. A chief Rabbi is from Uzhhorod, and there’s a film set in Zakarpattia called My Thoughts Are Silent, you should watch it. It has English subtitles. Statues of Warhol and Friedman in Uzhhorod:

NATO and the EU should punish Hungary swiftly and resolutely. This is a violation of the concept of borders and international law, and aiding an enemy. I’m sure this operation has gone on a while, but, it is known now.

Many fled from other parts of the country to cities like Uzhhorod, including myself, for safety, to escape the war, not because they wanted to leave Ukraine altogether. It is delusional and dangerous.

If Hungarian troops (all ten of them) marched across, while perhaps some people would not care if it didn’t affect them personally, as you can encounter some apathy here, most people here do feel passionately Ukrainian.

Any notion that people want to change borders, Hungarian soldiers, or to be part of Hungary is delusional and based on a misunderstanding of the present realities. It reminds me of Russia thinking they’d be greeted as liberators in Kyiv.

The reality is that the region is not homogenous; it is not a majority Hungarian-speaking region, only certain towns, and the affinity for Hungary has been significantly reduced.

Note Zakarpattia has had one airstrike since 2022 in the mountains on a factory, though missiles have flown overhead a few times and diverted. I’d bet this is deliberate, to not jeopardise support for Hungary/Russia (which doesn’t exist, but they think it does).

Now, this has clearly been a goal of this intelligence operation. Orban, presumably with Putin’s blessing, wants to take the region back (or appear ready to), seemingly for a combination of nationalism, memories of Triannon (skill issue), and just good old russophilia.

Orban has often been convinced that Zakarpattians feel oppressed and dream of being Hungarian again. However, Hungary's response to the invasion alienated much of the Hungarian-speaking population, many of whom now identify more so as Ukrainian.