Why is Hungarian geographically isolated from its closest Uralic relatives?

Hungarian is geographically isolated from its closest Uralic relatives—the Ob-Ugric languages (Khanty and Mansi), which are spoken in western Siberia—due to the historical migration patterns of the Hungarian ancestors.12

Following their separation from other Ugric tribes, the ancestors of the Hungarians moved south into the steppe region below the Ural Mountains. As mounted nomads, they traveled westward, often in alliance with Turkic tribes, eventually conquering the sparsely settled Carpathian Basin in 895–896.34

While their linguistic roots remain firmly within the Uralic language family, this migration placed Hungarian speakers in Central Europe, far from the Siberian homeland of their closest linguistic kin. Over the centuries, the language has been surrounded by non-Uralic speakers, leading to significant cultural and linguistic contact with neighboring groups, including Slavic, Germanic, and Turkic peoples, while maintaining its distinct Uralic phonology and grammar.1542