Kyiv has accused Budapest of kidnapping seven employees from the state-owned Oschadbank on Friday morning.
In an update published soon after midnight, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said the seven were taken by Hungarian authorities on Thursday with no explanation while transporting cash between Austria and Ukraine as part of their routine work.
Sybiha said the reason for their detention remains unclear, and Kyiv is unable to contact them. He describes their detention as “state terrorism and racketeering” as tension flares once again between Budapest and Kyiv.
“Today in Budapest, the Hungarian authorities effectively took seven Ukrainian citizens hostage. The reasons for this are currently unknown, as is their condition or the possibility of contacting them,” Sybiha said.
“These seven Ukrainians are employees of the state-owned Oschadbank. They were driving two bank cars that were transiting between Austria and Ukraine, transporting cash as part of a regular service between state-owned banks.”
Sybiha accused Budapest of “taking hostages and stealing money” and said Kyiv’s foreign ministry sent an official note demanding the seven citizens’ official release.
“In fact, it is about Hungary taking hostages and stealing money. If this is the same ‘force’ that Mr. Orban claimed earlier today, then it is the force of a criminal group. This is state terrorism and racketeering,” Sybiha added, referring to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s threat earlier on Thursday that Budapest would resort to “force” to pressure Kyiv into restoring Russian oil flow into the EU member state.
$40M, €35M held in ransom
Ukraine’s Oschadbank confirmed the incident via a press release on Friday morning.
It said two vehicles of the Oschadbank collection service carrying $40 million, €35 million ($41 million), and 9 kilograms (20 pounds) of gold were “unjustifiably detained in Hungary while carrying out a regular transportation of foreign currency and bank metals between Raiffeisen Bank Austria and Oschadbank Ukraine.”
It said GPS data showed the two vehicles are located in the center of Budapest, “near one of the law enforcement agencies of Hungary,” a location confirmed by Ukrainian authorities. However, the whereabouts of the detained employees remain unclear.
The bank said it worked in compliance with international transit protocols and called for the immediate release of its staff and vehicles.
“The transportation of funds and valuables was carried out by Oschadbank within the framework and in accordance with an international agreement with Raiffeisen Bank, Austria. The cargo was registered in accordance with international transportation rules and current European customs procedures,” the press release says.
“Oschadbank demands the immediate release of its employees and property and their return to Ukraine.”
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) also has responded to the reported kidnapping of Oschadbank cash-in-transit staff and is demanding explanations from Hungarian authorities, according to a statement published on the NBU’s Facebook.
According to the NBU, the collection team was carrying out another transport of a significant amount of foreign currency and banking metals under an international contract between Raiffeisen Bank International AG and Oschadbank.
The bank said the cargo had been processed in accordance with international transportation rules and current European customs procedures.
The National Bank stressed that it is demanding the immediate release of the Ukrainian citizens involved, as well as an official explanation from the Hungarian authorities regarding the reasons for their detention.
The NBU also called for information on the location of the collection vehicles and the cargo.
Meanwhile, outlet RBC-Ukraine, citing its sources, reported that the collection vehicles are currently located at the Hungarian Anti-Terrorism Center, a law enforcement body subordinate to the country’s Interior Ministry.
Renewed diplomatic spat
Tensions between Budapest and Kyiv have flared again in recent weeks over the flow of Russian oil to Europe through Ukraine, just over a month before Hungary’s general elections in April.
Hungary, alongside Slovakia, has demanded that Ukraine restore the flow of Russian oil by repairing the Druzhba pipeline running through its territory, and has blocked the EU’s €90 billion ($104 billion) loan package in an attempt to use it as leverage.
Kyiv has ruled out the repair, saying it should not be responsible for damages caused by Moscow.
On Thursday, days after Budapest’s foreign minister visited Moscow for an in-person meeting with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and received two Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs), tensions flared further, with Orban saying he would “break the Ukrainian oil blockade by force.”
The same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the pipeline could theoretically be made operational within “a month to a month-and-a-half.”
“But that does not mean that everything destroyed will be fully restored,” he added, hinting for the first time that Kyiv may intentionally block the pipeline in the future.
During an interview with state media Ukrinform, Zelensky also escalated the rhetoric by suggesting the Ukrainian military could speak to Orban “in their own language.”
“We hope that one person in the European Union will not block €90 billion, or the first tranche of the €90 billion… Otherwise, we will give the address of this person to our Armed Forces, to our guys. Let them call him and speak with him in their own language,” Zelensky said.
The diplomatic spat also comes ahead of Hungary’s general elections, with the Orban administration – known for its Kremlin ties – relying on a self-described anti-war stance to rally nationalist support, arguing that Europe should avoid backing Kyiv to prevent being drawn into the war.
The latest spat marks the highest level of tension between Budapest and Kyiv since May 2025, when Kyiv announced the breakup of a Hungarian spy ring, prompting the mutual expulsion of diplomats – and the high-profile daylight arrest in Budapest of a former Ukrainian diplomat later revealed to be a Russian national.