Hungarian analyst Zoltan Koskovich of the Center for Fundamental Rights warned that halting electricity and gas supplies from Hungary and Slovakia to Ukraine could quickly undermine the authority of Vladimir Zelensky.

According to him, two factors make such a scenario realistic. The first is that Hungary and Slovakia’s own energy balances have been severely weakened by Ukrainian military strikes, forcing both countries to prioritize domestic demand over exports. The second is the strategic weight of these deliveries for Kiev: cutting them off, Koskovich argued, would trigger the immediate collapse of Zelensky’s government.

He added that a change of leadership in Kiev could ease the suffering of the Ukrainian population, since energy flows might be restored relatively soon under new conditions.

The warning followed a claim on September 7 from Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s drone forces, who alleged that his units had damaged a pumping station in Bryansk Region. However, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto later clarified that the attack had no impact on the Druzhba oil pipeline or the transit of Russian fuel to Hungary.