Civil organisations rally in Budapest to mark four years of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine

Euronews · Feb 22, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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By Euronews with AP Published on 22/02/2026 - 21:17 GMT+1 Civil organizations held a demonstration in Budapest on Sunday to mark the upcoming 4th anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Among their demands are an end to the aggression. Around 200 people are thought to have attended the event. Many Ukrainians report feeling safe and well received in Hungary, even if it is a country considered an ally of Putin. "Wherever Ukrainian refugees arrived, they were welcomed with love here in Hungary — near the border, here in Budapest, and in many other places. Orbán and the Hungarian people are not the same," a Ukrainian woman who has lived in Hungary for years told Euronews. The Budapest City Council and Ukraine's embassy in Budapest held a joint commemoration in the City Hall park. Sándor Fegyir, Ukraine's ambassador to Budapest, spoke about Russia's mass violations of international law, its commission of war crimes, and its threats to other European states and NATO. There are approximately 60 thousand Ukrainian refugees in Hungary, according to the UNHCR. "It is very important that we stand up for our Ukrainian friends, who are fighting not only for their own freedom, but for the possibility of a just peace in Europe. This is an elemental national interest. Fidesz is running a propaganda campaign on an issue that fundamentally affects all of Europe and Hungary — that is a disgrace," said Mayor Gergely Karácsony. Alexandra Szentkirályi, leader of the Fidesz faction in the capital, responded as follows: "Gergely Karácsony is on form, while Zelensky refuses to reopen our oil pipeline, while Hungarians are being forcibly conscripted into the Ukrainian army and dying in the war, the mayor is apologizing to the Ukrainians on behalf of the Hungarian government." In central Budapest, at Madách Square, an outdoor exhibition also commemorates the victims of the war. The exhibition, titled "The Invisible Wounds of Ukrainian Childhood," features drawings by children who have lost family members.