Ukraine Rejects Conscription Death Investigation, Foreign Minister Claims

“The Ukrainian authorities have refused to investigate the case of József Sebestyén, who was recently beaten to death by recruiters during a forced conscription attempt. By doing so, they have essentially acknowledged that this is a state-institutionalized practice in Ukraine,” stated Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó on Wednesday in Budapest.

According to a statement from the ministry, the minister highlighted in the online program “Hour of the Fighters” that by rejecting the investigation, the authorities “practically admitted that forced conscription involving the beating, fatal beating, and death of individuals is a state-institutionalized, state-accepted, state-ordered, and state-conducted process in Ukraine.”

In his opinion, in a “civilized, normal country,” an immediate procedure would be launched if such a case came to light. The perpetrators and those who approved their actions would be apprehended immediately, and such practices would be ended, he explained.

“What happens in Ukraine instead? Everyone turns their head away, no one dares to speak about it. And if someone is beaten to death, the authorities refuse to investigate.

This means that in Ukraine, this is a state-accepted, state-ordered, and state-executed process. Forced conscription is a tool of the state there. A country like that has no place in the European Union, in fact, it does not belong among civilized nations,”

he stressed.

“The fact that Brussels has not uttered a single word to this day against forced conscription, not a word about a Hungarian person — a European Union citizen — being beaten to death in Ukraine during forced conscription, shows that Brussels condones and approves of it. All of this is happening with Brussels’ tacit or even explicit support,” he continued.

By refusing to investigate the death of a Hungarian man during forced conscription, Ukrainian authorities have basically acknowledged that the documented abductions, beatings, and even cases of people being beaten to death are state-approved and state-executed.

In any civilised…

— Péter Szijjártó (@FM_Szijjarto) August 6, 2025

“With Brussels turning a blind eye, giving tacit or explicit approval, people in Ukraine are being beaten, humiliated, abducted, and in some cases, beaten to death,” he added.

He then recalled that

the Hungarian government initiated the inclusion of those responsible for “forced conscription” on the EU sanctions list, but to this day, no one in Brussels has responded.

Minister Szijjártó emphasized that although for over three years it has been said that Ukraine is defending Europe, “this is not true.” “The Ukrainians are not defending us, because we are not under attack. Russia attacked Ukraine — that is an indisputable fact. Ukraine is defending itself. Ukraine is clearly and heroically defending itself, as it is fighting a war against a country much larger than itself, with substantial Western assistance,” he underlined.

“Ukraine is defending itself, its own territory, its own sovereignty, and its own territorial integrity. This has nothing to do with us. We are not under attack, therefore we do not need to be defended. They say this in order to create a mental state in Europe where everyone feels a moral obligation to support Ukraine and to produce a situation that generates guilt,” he said.

Ukraine Accused of Covering Up Abuse of Ethnic Minority