The Proposed ‘Gamechanger’: How Russia Plotted A Fake Orban Assassination To Tilt Hungary's Polls

Last Updated:April 13, 2026, 15:22 IST

Report says Russian SVR planned fake Orban assassination to sway Hungary vote, Orban lost to Peter Magyar, EU curbs intel sharing with Hungary over Russia ties

Sometime before the recently concluded Hungarian parliamentary elections on April 12, a unit of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, the SVR, drew up a plan to stage a fake assassination attempt on former Prime Minister Viktor Orban in an attempt to sway the Hungarian national elections.

The Washington Post reported on March 21, citing an internal SVR document obtained and authenticated by a European intelligence service that the plan – codenamed “The Gamechanger," had a stated objective to shift the election “out of the rational realm of socioeconomic questions into an emotional one, where the key themes would become state security and the stability and defence of the political system."

Regardless, on Sunday, Orban lost the election to opposition leader Peter Magyar by a margin of 53.6 per cent to 37.8 per cent, on a record turnout of over 77 per cent, according to Hungary’s National Election Office.

What the Document Said

The SVR report, prepared for Directorate MS, the service’s main unit for political influence operations also known as the Active Measures Department, assessed that 52.3 per cent of Hungarian voters were dissatisfied with conditions in the country. That figure held even in rural constituencies, where 50.8 per cent of voters expressed dissatisfaction, areas that had been reliable Fidesz strongholds across multiple elections. The document proposed that a staged attack on Orban’s life was the instrument best suited to reversing those numbers before polling day.

The Post noted it was unclear whether the proposal travelled beyond the SVR to the Russian government’s senior leadership. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the report “another example of disinformation." The SVR declined to comment. Orban’s press office did not respond to the Post’s requests for comment.

The SVR’s assessment of Magyar was also contained in the document. His Tisza party, which Magyar had built in under two years after breaking from Fidesz in 2024, was described as a “Brussels puppet." The document separately outlined a broader influence operation, including Russian-designed disinformation content spread through local influencers in Hungary and AI-generated videos targeting Magyar personally, as bne IntelliNews reported, citing the Post’s findings.

The Szijjarto-Lavrov Recordings

Running alongside the Gamechanger proposal was a separate and more established channel. The Post reported that Szijjarto had for years stepped out during breaks at EU Foreign Affairs Council meetings to call Lavrov and provide, in the paper’s words, “live reports on what’s been discussed." One EU security official told the Post that “every single EU meeting for years has basically had Moscow behind the table."

Weeks later, the Central European investigative outlet VSquare published audio it said captured a phone call between Szijjarto and Lavrov in August 2024, in which Szijjarto appeared to confirm that a task involving the removal of a Russian businessman’s sister from the EU sanctions list had been “completed" and asked Lavrov for “patience" on further matters. Szijjarto initially dismissed all reporting on his Russian contacts as “fake news," then later acknowledged, per the Irish Times, that he consulted with Russia before and after EU ministerial meetings, calling this “perfectly natural."

The European Commission described the VSquare revelations as “greatly concerning" and called on Budapest to provide clarification. Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X that he and other EU leaders had long held suspicions that Hungary was briefing Moscow on closed Council sessions. The EU moved to restrict intelligence-sharing with Hungary as a precautionary measure, as the Kyiv Post reported.

What Else Was in Play

The Trump administration backed Orban openly during the campaign’s final stretch. US Vice President JD Vance flew to Budapest on 7 April, told a rally crowd that “we have got to get Viktor Orban re-elected," and called President Donald Trump live from the stage. Trump told the audience he was “with him all the way."

None of the world’s great barons, Putin or Trump were able to change the results in their favour however. Magyar’s Tisza party won 138 seats in Hungary’s 199-seat parliament, crossing the two-thirds threshold that allows the incoming government to amend the constitution. Orban addressed supporters after the count and called the outcome “painful." Magyar, speaking to tens of thousands along the Danube in Budapest, said: “Tonight, truth prevailed over lies."

Magyar has pledged to review the Orban government’s expansion of the Paks nuclear plant, a project led by Russia’s Rosatom. He has also said his first foreign trips as prime minister will be to Warsaw and Vienna, not Moscow.

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