Foreign Ministry reveals how Ukrainian cash-in-transit guards were seized in Hungary

It has emerged that fighters from Hungary's Counterterrorism Centre who detained seven cash-in-transit guards from Ukraine's state-run Oschadbank on the Budapest ring road on 5 March 2026 were equipped with an armoured personnel carrier, machine guns and grenade launchers.

The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine said the valuables transported from Raiffeisen Bank International in Austria by the cash-in-transit guards under an interbank contract had been processed in full compliance with transport regulations and customs procedures.

"The Hungarian side knew that the cash-in-transit guards were not armed, yet the detention of Ukrainian citizens was carried out by Hungary's Counterterrorism Centre. An armoured personnel carrier was used during the operation, and the officers involved were armed with machine guns and grenade launchers," the ministry stated.

Reports also emerged about the conditions in which the detained guards were held. According to their testimonies, Hungary had committed serious violations of its international legal obligations, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

On the evening of 6 March, the seven Ukrainian cash-in-transit guards returned to Ukraine. Oschadbank and Ukraine's Foreign Ministry are demanding that Hungary return the bank's valuables and the vehicles used to transport them.

On 6 March, Szijjarto said that Budapest suspects that the Oschadbank vehicles were carrying "money from the Ukrainian military mafia".

The National Bank of Ukraine has proposed that the European Commission act as an independent arbitrator in the case concerning the cash-in-transit guards detained in Hungary.