Hungarian opposition politician Peter Magyar, prime minister Viktor Orbán's main rival, delivered aid on Wednesday to a children's hospital in Kyiv that was hit by a Russian airstrike this week. Magyar's party, "Tisa", collected about 15 million forints (about 41 thousand dollars) and medical supplies and food donated by Hungarians, Reuters reports.
"It was a spontaneous decision after we saw the brutal Russian missile attack," Magyar said before leaving for Kyiv. A UN human rights mission said there was a "high likelihood" the main children's hospital in Kyiv was directly hit by a Russian missile. The Kremlin claims, without evidence, that the hospital was hit by a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile.
Orban, who is a critic of Western military aid to Ukraine and has warm relations with Russia, visited Kiev and Moscow last week as part of his "peace mission". His meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin drew strong criticism from some European allies.
"The Prime Minister can travel the world and pretend he is making peace... but we believe in action rather than flying three times around the world. We are different," Magyar said. His party won almost 30% of the Hungarian vote in June's European Parliament elections.
Magyar said he agreed with the government that weapons should not be sent to Ukraine through Hungary to avoid targeting the Ukrainian Hungarian community, but other countries have the sovereign right to send weapons to Ukraine.