Hungary seizes $80 million from Ukrainian state bank armored cars, detains seven

BUDAPEST — Hungarian authorities detained seven employees of Ukraine’s state-owned Oschadbank and seized two armored vehicles carrying more than $80 million in cash on Thursday as the convoy transited Hungary between Austria and Ukraine, officials said Friday. Hungary cited suspicion of money laundering. The seven bank workers were released Friday, but Hungarian authorities retained the funds — including $40 million in U.S. dollars, 35 million euros, and 9 kilograms of gold valued at approximately $1.5 million — prompting Ukraine’s foreign minister to accuse Budapest of “state banditism.”

The seizure deepens a months-long confrontation between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Ukraine, with Orbán trailing in most polls ahead of Hungary’s April 12 parliamentary elections and using the standoff over Russian oil deliveries as a central campaign theme.

The seizure

The detained bank workers were conducting what Oschadbank described as a routine armored-car transfer between state financial institutions. Oschadbank board Chairman Yurii Katsion wrote on Facebook that Hungary “groundlessly questions the source of the state bank’s funds, transported in accordance with international agreements and supported by all necessary documentation.”

After the release of the seven employees, Hungary’s government said it would expel them but offered no explanation for why people it had suspected of money laundering were being set free rather than charged. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha announced on social media Friday that the seven had been returned to Ukraine.

Ukraine’s response

“We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Sybiha wrote on X.

Sybiha characterized the detention as “part of Hungary’s blackmail and electoral campaign” and wrote that Ukraine “reserves the right to take appropriate action, including initiating sanctions and other restrictive measures.” He called on Hungary to “stop dragging Ukraine into its domestic politics and electoral campaign.”

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry separately urged Ukrainian citizens to abstain from visiting Hungary, saying their security could not be guaranteed amid “arbitrary actions by the Hungarian authorities.” The ministry also cautioned Ukrainian and European businesses against “the risk of arbitrary seizure of property” in Hungary.

Orbán’s escalation

In statements to state radio on Friday, Orbán alluded to the convoy seizure while laying out a pressure campaign against Kyiv. “We will stop things that are important to Ukraine passing through Hungary until we get the approval of the Ukrainians for oil shipments,” he said. “The Ukrainians will run out of money sooner than we will run out of oil.”

On Thursday, Orbán had told an economic forum that Hungary would use “force,” including “political and financial tools,” to compel Ukraine to resume oil shipments.

Orbán has called Ukraine Hungary’s “enemy” and accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of seeking to provoke an energy crisis to influence the April 12 vote. “The best way for the Ukrainians to achieve their demands on Hungary is if they get rid of the national government and the prime minister who is standing in their way,” Orbán said on state radio Friday.

Orbán, who has been in office since 2010 and is the EU’s longest-serving leader, is trailing in most polls behind a popular center-right challenger. He has told voters that a loss for his government would result in the EU forcing Hungary into bankruptcy by cutting Russian energy imports and that Hungarian youth would be sent to the front lines in Ukraine.

Pipeline backdrop

The confrontation traces in part to a halt in Russian oil deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline, which crosses Ukrainian territory. Shipments have been interrupted since Jan. 27. Ukraine says a Russian drone strike damaged the pipeline’s infrastructure and that repairs carry risks to technicians, adding that the pipeline would remain vulnerable to further attacks even if restored. Hungary accuses Ukraine of deliberately holding up supplies of Russian crude.

In response to the interruption, Orbán has previously ceased diesel shipments to Ukraine, vetoed a new round of EU sanctions against Russia, deployed military forces to key energy infrastructure sites in Hungary, and blocked a 90-billion-euro ($106 billion) EU loan package for Kyiv. Hungary, along with neighboring Slovakia, has continued purchasing Russian fossil fuels despite the broader EU push to reduce dependence on Russian energy following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.