An operation to grab Ukrainian cash-in-transit guards and belongings belonging to Oschadbank on 5 March was deliberate by Hungarian intelligence providers to impress a confrontation with Ukraine forward of Hungary's parliamentary elections.
Supply: investigative journalists from VSquare, as reported by European Pravda
Particulars: In line with 4 sources acquainted with the main points of the operation to detain the Ukrainian cash-in-transit guards and seize Oschadbank's belongings, the raid was led by Örs Farkas, the state secretary accountable for civilian intelligence providers.
It’s claimed that Hungarian intelligence providers had been monitoring common shipments of financial institution cargo from Austria to Ukraine since at the very least early January 2026. Surveillance was performed overseas: operatives recognized the lodge in Vienna the place the Ukrainian guards had been staying and mapped out the routes they used.
Hungary's preliminary plan was to catch the Ukrainians with weapons, which might have allowed the authorities to advertise a story about terrorism or unlawful arms trafficking.
Because of this, the Counterterrorism Centre (TEK) was tasked with finishing up the raid, which was personally overseen by State Secretary Farkas from the TEK command centre.
Nonetheless, the raid didn’t go as deliberate, because the paperwork, money transfers and the cash-in-transit operation turned out to be solely authorized, and the Ukrainians weren’t carrying any weapons.
In consequence, Hungarian authorities swiftly devised a "Plan B", accusing the cash-in-transit guards of cash laundering. Hungary's tax authority (the NAV) was instructed to launch an investigation to create the looks of legality.
The truth that the operation was improvised can also be evidenced by the absence of any notification to the Hungarian navy intelligence concerning the raid, regardless of the narrative a few "struggle mafia".
Furthermore, Hungary's Ministry of Defence was knowledgeable solely after TEK operatives realised they lacked enough autos to move the seized cash-in-transit autos and needed to request navy transport.
In line with the sources, the operation is being thought of successful in Hungary as a result of information of it reached Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy forward of a press convention. They counsel this will likely relate to the second when Zelenskyy threatened to present the deal with of "a sure individual" blocking the EU's €90 billion mortgage for Ukraine (alluding to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán) to "the fellows from the Armed Forces of Ukraine". Nonetheless, journalists can’t verify that these remarks had been instantly linked to the raid involving Oschadbank.
Background: On 9 March, Hungarian authorities urgently adopted laws to create a authorized framework for the confiscation of funds that ended up within the palms of the Hungarian intelligence providers after the seizure of two Oschadbank cash-in-transit autos. This additionally required a separate specifically adopted determination by Viktor Orbán's authorities.
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