Former lieutenant general of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) Hryhoriy Omelchenko issued an open death threat against Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his family, stating that a Ukrainian ‘death squad’ knows everything about them and that they ‘can’t run from them’.

‘We don’t need Orbán’s address. We know where he lives, where he sleeps at night, where he drinks his wine, and who he meets,’ Omelchenko said in a video interview with Youtube channel Pyramy TV. The former SBU official declared that ‘if Orbán does not change his anti-Ukrainian position’, a covert organization called ‘KARMA’, created to eliminate Ukraine’s enemies, would act. ‘Let him remember that we never forgive crimes,’ he added.

‘You can’t run or hide from KARMA,’ Omelchenko concluded.

The video was also shared by political director of the Hungarian prime minister Balázs Orbán, who underlined that ‘threats and intimidation will not work against Hungary’.

The former SBU general’s statement follows similar threatening remarks delivered by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week. Speaking during a government meeting, Zelenskyy said that he hopes Orbán will not block the €90 billion EU loan to Kyiv; otherwise, ‘we will give the address of that person to our armed forces, and let them call him and speak with him in their own language’.

Zelenskyy’s words were condemned by several leading European figures, including Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, and even the European Commission.

Relations between Ukraine and Hungary have been deteriorating rapidly since February, as Kyiv has refused to resume oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline, a key route for Hungary’s energy supplies. The halt threatens the country’s energy security at a time when the conflict in the Middle East is already driving energy prices upward. In response, Orbán blocked the €90 billion EU loan to Ukraine.

Moreover, last week Hungarian authorities intercepted a Ukrainian convoy transporting large amounts of cash and gold from Austria to Ukraine. Investigations are still ongoing, while Kyiv accused Budapest of ‘stealing’ the money and vowed to hold everyone involved accountable.

Reacting to Omelchenko’s threats, Prime Minister Orbán said the government would never give in to blackmail. ‘They threaten the Hungarian government, they threaten the prime minister, even my family. We take these threats seriously, but we will not be intimidated. Hungary is strong enough to defend itself, and we will break the oil blockade,’ he stressed.

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