Hungarian security forces have seized an armored convoy belonging to Ukraine’s state-owned Oschadbank, confiscating tens of millions of dollars in cash and gold and detaining seven bank employees in a move that has triggered a sharp diplomatic clash between Budapest and Kyiv.
The convoy, which was transporting roughly 40 million dollars, 35 million euros and about nine kilograms of gold from Austria to Ukraine under an international agreement with Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank, was intercepted by Hungarian authorities on suspicion of money laundering, according to officials in Budapest. Ukrainian officials insist the shipment was a routine, fully documented transfer made necessary by wartime restrictions on air traffic, and accuse Hungary of effectively kidnapping bank staff, holding them incommunicado and seizing state assets.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry has blasted the operation as “state terrorism” and “extortion”, with Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha alleging that Hungary is taking hostages and stealing money from a partner country at war. In response, Ukraine’s National Police have opened criminal proceedings for kidnapping and hostage-taking, while the Foreign Ministry has issued a travel advisory urging Ukrainians to avoid transiting through Hungary amid the escalating row.
Budapest has defended its actions, with Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó questioning the origins and purpose of the large cash transfers and suggesting possible links to a “Ukrainian military mafia”, claims Kyiv has angrily rejected. Hungarian officials say a money-laundering investigation is under way, pointing out that similar shipments worth hundreds of millions of dollars and large quantities of gold have crossed Hungary’s territory in recent months, and demanding that Ukraine explain why such operations are not conducted via standard bank transfers.
Although Hungarian authorities have moved to expel the seven detained Ukrainian employees, the fate of the seized money and gold remains unclear, deepening tensions between the two neighbors. The incident comes on top of an existing dispute over the Druzhba oil pipeline and Hungary’s repeated obstruction of EU financial aid and sanctions packages related to Russia’s war on Ukraine, raising fears in Kyiv and Brussels that the convoy seizure could mark a dangerous new phase in already fraught Hungary–Ukraine relations.
