Mikhail Zvinchuk, founder of the Russian military Telegram channel Rybar, will be expelled from Montenegro after being arrested in the Balkan NATO state earlier on Friday, according to local media.
Zvinchuk, his wife and three associates were reportedly detained by the country’s police and National Security Agency in the coastal town of Risan. Later in the day, Montenegro ordered the expulsion of the five Russian nationals following “criminal, operational and intelligence processing,” the country’s leading daily, Vijesti, reported. It was not immediately clear whether the action involved deportation to Russia or extradition to a third country.
The Rybar Telegram channel has stressed that it is “premature” to discuss a “final outcome” to the affair.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the details of the arrest but warned Russian citizens that visiting Europe is “currently dangerous.”
The arrest was described as targeting alleged “hybrid activity” by the Rybar network, but no specific evidence supporting the accusation has been presented.
The channel, which has around 1.3 million subscribers, had previously also faced US and British accusations of spreading Russian propaganda and conducting information operations abroad. The US State Department had even issued a $10 million bounty in 2024 on any information about the individuals behind the Rybar channel.
Moscow’s embassy in Montenegro is currently inquiring into the circumstances of Zvinchuk’s detention, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.
The Telegram channel Baza has reported that it has been able to independently confirm Zvinchuk’s arrest, stating that he and his wife were detained at 7:30 AM local time at the Mövenpick Hotel in Risan and were reportedly not even allowed to pay for their room or collect their belongings.
The pair were taken to Montenegro’s capital Podgorica, where they were interrogated, Baza claimed. Their phones and documents have been confiscated.
Montenegrin media have reported that local security services had been monitoring Zvinchuk’s group for several days before Friday’s detention. The Rybar team is believed to have arrived in the country to film a report about Montenegro’s plans to align its visa policy with EU standards.
The planned video is reportedly being viewed by authorities as an attempt to portray European integration as a threat to the country’s tourism, economy and national interests.
Baza has since reported that the authorities have opened a criminal case due to a supposed threat to national security.Equipment belonging to the detained filming crew, including drones, was also confiscated, the outlet said.
Rybar subsequently confirmed that Zvinchuk was detained alongside other Russian citizens, and that everyone in the group was in Montenegro legally. Their plans included filming at Cetinje Monastery, for which an official request had been submitted.
The project said its team was in contact with the Russian Foreign Ministry, which was working to resolve the situation. Rybar maintained that the group had broken no local laws and said it expected all those detained to be released.
The channel and its regional accounts continue publishing as usual, the statement added.
Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajic has since also confirmed the detention of Rybar’s head. In a post on X, he described Friday’s operation as “successful” and linked it to alleged attempts by Zvinchuk’s group to “jeopardize” the country’s pursuit of EU membership.
Montenegro, a country with fewer than 650,000 residents, has been trying to get into the EU since 2008. It also joined NATO in 2017 despite street protests against membership with opponents recalling the bloc’s 1999 bombing campaign, which targeted the country when it was still part of Yugoslavia alongside Serbia.