At first glance Velyka Dobron looks like any other Ukrainian village on a bright spring day: tidy homes along a main street. A closer look, though, reveals many houses empty, few people in sight and an absence of working-age men.
Velyka Dobron sits in far-west Ukraine, roughly 10 kilometers from the Hungarian border, and is overwhelmingly ethnic Hungarian. Locals also call it Nagydobrony.
Sandor Rati, 63, stands outside a small grocery shop talking to a neighbor. He runs a one-man carpentry workshop and shows the worry of someone carrying a heavy burden. A few weeks earlier his only son was conscripted into the Ukrainian army; Rati had relied on him for help because of health problems. His son is now in military training, and Rati hopes he will serve close to home and not be sent to the front.
When asked about Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s anti-Ukrainian rhetoric and rising tensions between the two countries ahead of Hungary’s parliamentary vote, Rati was quiet. He said Orban has done a lot for Hungarians across the border, but warned that antagonizing Ukraine could backfire: “They’ll be angry with us here.”
Orban’s campaign has leaned heavily on nationalist, pro-Russian and anti-Ukrainian messaging, particularly focused on the multiethnic Transcarpathia region. Hungarian officials accuse Kyiv of stripping minority rights, allege attacks by Ukrainian nationalists on Hungarian institutions, and claim more ethnic Hungarians are being mobilized than Ukrainians. Ahead of the election, these claims have spread broadly across social media, often without evidence.
The situation on the ground looks different. Few residents complain about the loss of minority rights, there is no clear proof of nationalist attacks against the Hungarian community, and unlike some neighbouring countries, bilingual signs are not being systematically vandalized. But many ethnic Hungarians here are reluctant to speak openly. In Velyka Dobron, people often avoid interviews, accusing journalists of misrepresenting their words.
Mayor Ferenc Nagy, 51, does speak. In his modest town hall office, a Ukrainian and a Hungarian flag stand side by side; letters of thanks from Ukrainian forces and institutions for local relief efforts hang on the wall. Nagy declined to comment on Orban’s politics but said it was hurtful to call Ukraine a “mafia state.” “I’m not a criminal,” he said, “and I don’t know any criminals.” He urged politicians to focus on results rather than disparaging others.
Nagy does not see discrimination against the Hungarian minority in day-to-day life, though he wants Ukrainian language instruction to be better adapted for children who do not speak Ukrainian at home.
The village’s decline is palpable. Nagy recalled better times when farming sustained families; since the conflict that began in 2014 and Russia’s large-scale invasion in 2022, economic activity and population have fallen. He said the village once had more than 6,000 residents; now about 2,000 remain, with many men leaving to work abroad and their families following. “The most important thing is that the war ends,” he said. His own son works in Hungary; Nagy hopes he will return. “We were born here. This is where our roots are and where our parents’ graves lie.”
Census data from 2001 recorded roughly 150,000 ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia, about 12% of the region’s population. Current estimates put the number at around 80,000. Laszlo Zubanics, a historian and head of the Hungarian Democratic Federation in Ukraine (UMDSZ), warned that continued emigration could reduce Hungarians to “a folkloristic sight.” Zubanics said the Ukrainian state bolstered minority education in 2023, but the war’s pressures are nonetheless prompting departures.
Two main Hungarian parties operate in Transcarpathia. The UMDSZ is pro-European, advocates dialogue with Kyiv and distances itself from Orban’s government. The Party of Hungarians of Ukraine (KMKSZ) is national-conservative and maintains close ties with Hungary’s leadership. Before the war, KMKSZ was the dominant force, but the conflict and the long gap since the last local elections make it hard to judge which party best represents regional interests now.
On village streets one can find both supporters and critics of Orban, yet most people avoid political debate. A rare point of broad agreement, among Ukrainians and Hungarians alike, is the desire for peace.
At a school in nearby Berehove, Hungarian is the primary language of instruction, though subjects like Ukrainian literature and history are taught in Ukrainian. Vitaliy Dyachuk, a political scientist at the Institute for Central European Strategy in Uzhhorod, said surveys show most ethnic Hungarians feel patriotically connected both to Hungary and to Ukraine. He argued Kyiv and Ukrainian society should do more to visibly recognize minorities’ contributions, for example by highlighting that many Hungarians serve in the armed forces.
This article was originally written in Ukrainian.