Hackers attack Ukraine’s Oschadbank after Hungary robbed it of $82 million, and opposition says Russian agents already in Budapest

On 9 March, Ukraine's state-owned Oschadbank reported a temporary shutdown of its electronic services due to a suspected DDoS attack. The incident comes amid Hungary's seizure of seven of the bank’s cash-collection employees and two vehicles carrying the bank's Ukrainian cash and gold. 

Orbán’s entire election campaign has been built on hostility toward Ukraine during its struggle against Russian aggression. For instance, he has accused Kyiv of halting Russian oil to the country, despite the fact that it was Russia that struck the Druzba pipeline in Ukraine on 27 January. 

“The bank’s servers had to be shut down”

“At around 10:00, Oschadbank’s security protocols were triggered due to a suspected DDoS attack. As a result, the bank’s servers were temporarily shut down. A technical inspection of all systems is currently underway,” the statement says.

The bank expects that all electronic services will be fully restored within the next hour.

Legal dispute: the bank challenges the actions of Hungarian authorities

Earlier, seven bank employees who were escorting the shipment returned to Ukraine, but the bank’s property remains unlawfully detained.

The seized assets amount to $40 million, €35 million, and 9 kilograms of bank gold.

Oschadbank is demanding that Hungary return the assets. The bank is also challenging the restrictive measures imposed by Hungary’s migration authorities on the cash collection team, which barred them from remaining in EU territory.

In addition, the bank will examine violations of its employees’ rights during their detention for more than 24 hours without access to legal assistance or consular support.