Szabolcs Panyi is a Hungarian investigative journalist with the Central European non-profit outlet VSquare.org. He focuses on Russian and Chinese espionage and influence operations, illegal surveillance, corruption, and authoritarian trends in the region. He has been targeted by the Orbán government’s surveillance campaigns multiple times — including having his phone hacked with the Israeli Pegasus spyware. He is a recipient of the 2024 Free Media Award from the Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung Bucerius, and has been twice shortlisted for the European Press Prize. He is currently writing a book on Russian intelligence penetration in Hungary and the roots of the country’s pro-Kremlin policies.

In the run-up to Hungary’s 2026 parliamentary election, the Orbán government accused him of being a “Ukrainian spy” and filed criminal charges against him. Together with VSquare and a consortium of Central European investigative outlets, he co-authored an investigation revealing phone conversations between Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó and Sergey Lavrov — proving that Hungary has been acting on the Kremlin’s behalf in de-sanctioning Russian oligarchs and their family members and leaking EU documents to Moscow.