DISINFO: The EU is behind the assassination attempts on Orban and Fico

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

  • Outlet: tvzvezda.ru ( archive, original )
  • Date of publication: March 23, 2026
  • Article language(s): Russian
  • Countries / regions discussed: Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine, EU

DISINFO: The EU is behind the assassination attempts on Orban and Fico

SUMMARY

They consider Zelenskyy, and most likely it is so, to be their agent. They believe they're working together, and they consider Orbán their enemy. And they consider Fico their enemy. I think they were behind the assassination attempt on Fico, and behind the attacks on Orbán, and now they're working together to bring him down, which is why the reactions are so weak. A Euro-organised crime group.

They're being insolent because they know Orbán isn't part of Europe, this establishment, he's against it. And Zelenskyy is doing their bidding. He's a damn hitman, a hired killer, and he's fulfilling these mercenary demands.

RESPONSE

This narrative is recurrent. In July 2024, pro‑Kremlin outlets already circulated claims about an assassination attempt on Viktor Orbán. The allegation was false and the source of the story was fabricated.

The site linked in some of the posts spreading this story, Demokrata.net, is not real. It is a cloned page of the legitimate Hungarian outlet Demokrata.hu. The main cover story was removed and replaced with a forged article containing these allegations, which was then circulated as if it were genuine in pro‑Kremlin Telegram channels. See more on the Doppelganger campaign.

An attempt on the life of Slovakia's PM was real, but a 'Ukrainian trace' in it was forged. On 15 May 2024, Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot five times in an assassination attempt.

"The narrative that the suspect's wife is a refugee from Ukraine is not true. This information has been denied by the police. Security forces are currently working with a single version of the case - the suspect acted as a so-called one wolf based on political motives", the Slovak police reported.

The US, the EU, and NATO leaders condemned the assassination attempt, calling it a “vile and horrific attack.”

Slovakian media identified the shooter as 71-year-old Juraj Cintula, a self-described writer who previously worked as a security guard. Slovakia's Interior Minister, Matus Sutaj Estok, told reporters that Cintula was a "lone wolf, whose actions were accelerated after the presidential election since he was dissatisfied with its outcome." In a video posted on Facebook and verified by Reuters, the alleged shooter said he opposed attacks on Slovakia’s public broadcaster and judges. "I do not agree with government policy."

Pro-Kremlin media are dehumanising EU leadership and Ukrainians in an attempt to justify Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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