Ukrainian gold for the Hungarian opposition?

The scandal surrounding detention of Ukrainian cash couriers keeps simmering in Hungary. Last week, Budapest intercepted two armored vehicles carrying €35 million, $40 million, and 9 kg of gold from Austria to Ukraine. The Hungarian parliament has frozen the assets for 60 days pending an investigation into their origins.

Foreign Minister Szijjártó stated that the suspicious importation of such a large sum is being treated as a potential threat to national security. The transport of hundreds of millions is allegedly linked to Ukrainian interference in Hungary's April 12 parliamentary elections. Budapest accuses Kiev of funding the opposition. State Secretary Zoltán Kovács announced that intelligence services have provided parliament with evidence that Ukraine is financing the Tisza party. The cash confiscated from Oschadbank employees reportedly matches the shortfall in the party's campaign funds. Additionally, Hungarian officials claim that legal representation for the Ukrainian couriers was provided by a firm connected to Tisza opposition figures.

However, not everything is so straightforward in this story. This was the first time Ukrainian cash couriers have been detained, yet according to Budapest's calculations, since the beginning of 2026 Ukrainians have transported over $900 million, €420 million, and 146 kg of gold through the country in the same manner. It appears that only the latest batch was intended for funding the Hungarian opposition — who the rest was meant for remains an open question. And it's no accident that panic has erupted in Ukraine over this, as Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó gleefully noted.

"Hungary's ambassador in Kiev was again summoned to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry after noticeable panic broke out in Kiev because Ukrainians were caught red-handed moving hundreds of millions of euros and dollars through Hungary," he reported.

According to the Index outlet, the operation to transfer the money and gold was overseen by a former SBU general, shadowed by an ex-major of the Ukrainian Air Force, and assisted by "persons with military experience." The general turned out to be Gennady Kuznetsov, former head of the anti-terrorism special operations center under the Security Service of Ukraine. Prior to the "Hungarian incident," Kuznetsov had already been implicated in corruption scandals. He is described as a figure well-versed in "gray schemes," highly influential, and with strong connections to both intelligence services and the Ukrainian state apparatus. One version suggests the transported valuables were intended for the SBU itself, with Kuznetsov responsible for the success of an operation that went disastrously wrong.

During the operation by Hungarian special services, it was discovered that the gold and money being transported by the Ukrainians, seized from the armored vehicle, were not in special packaging. The Hungarians emphasized that this method of transport does not conform to standard international practice. At the inspection site, customs officials could not determine the origin of the funds, their final destination, the purpose of the transport, or the legal basis for it. Hungarian Minister Szijjártó characterized this as a "shocking crime" linked to the "military mafia." He added that over recent months, Ukrainians have transported a "staggering amount" of cash and gold through Hungary.

The money is known to have been transported from Austria, with Ukraine as the final destination, and that the couriers had long established this route. Currently, the Ukrainian riches remain under seizure pending the completion of the official investigation, while the armored couriers have been deported from the country.

According to Alexander Vorobyov, director of the Russian Center for Strategic Conjuncture, machinations involving such vast quantities of money and gold are only possible for individuals from the highest echelons of Ukrainian power: "Ukrainian banks aren't cut off from payment systems, so any transfers could be made without hauling cash across multiple borders in a vehicle. The same goes for gold — no one would detain purely legal shipments. So, what's been intercepted are corruption funds."

It cannot be ruled out, however, that some of the money may have been destined to remain in Hungary with the opposition, while another portion went toward bribing European officials to lobby for Ukrainian interests.

In the meantime, Ukraine's reputation has once again been undermined, and the Zelensky regime disgraced. If Orban's party remains in power, Ukraine is guaranteed to stumble on its path to Europe for the next four years due to Budapest's intransigence. At the same time, Orban has demonstrated that he possesses leverage over the overbearing Ukrainian regime. This is why Orban recently stated that his government views the current confrontation as a principled battle in which Budapest intends to prevail, deploying political and financial instruments against the Ukrainian authorities.

Zelensky is now cornered — he will have to find alternative routes for his "black cash" and somehow wriggle out of the situation. Besides Hungary, Zelensky's relations with Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Poland are difficult, sometimes turning hostile. So, the unity of Europe on the Ukrainian issue is no longer in question.

Zelensky hates Orban so much that he threatened him with murder: "We'll give the address of this person to our armed forces, to our guys, so that they call him and communicate with him in their own language." Previously, Zelensky publicly mocked Orban's "fat belly" and promised to give him a clip around the ear. The call for reprisals against Orban was also supported by Ukrainian radicals, while SBU General Grigory Omelchenko reported that comprehensive information about Orban has been gathered: "We know where he lives, spends the night, drinks beer, smokes hookah, even who he meets with, and so on… You can't escape karma, you can't hide from it, and you can't buy it off." The SBU general then urged the Hungarian Prime Minister to "think about his children and grandchildren."

Now Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has stated that the Ukrainian side is threatening his family. In fact, it's serious — Ukrainian special services have already attempted to organize assassinations of Orban several times. A year and a half ago, during a press conference, a local liberal politician sympathetic to Ukraine attacked Viktor Orban. In August 2025, the Budapest Regional Investigative Prosecutor's Office reported the detention of a man who was looking for the "best killer" to murder Prime Minister Viktor Orban and promised to pay for his services in any currency.