Balkans
Montenegro detains founder of Russian channel Rybar; Medvedev threatens to “replenish the exchange pool”
Montenegrin police detained Mikhail Zvinchuk, founder of the pro-Kremlin war blog Rybar, his wife and three associates in Risan on October 9. Police later said they would be expelled for national security reasons, while Dmitry Medvedev threatened to “replenish our exchange pool” with Europeans and Americans.
Montenegrin authorities detained Mikhail Zvinchuk, founder of the Russian war-propaganda channel Rybar, the Kyiv Independent reports. According to the Montenegrin newspaper Vijesti, Zvinchuk, his wife Valeria and three associates were detained on the morning of Friday, October 9, in the coastal town of Risan, in an operation by the police and the National Security Agency.
Prime Minister Milojko Spajić confirmed the detention without giving details. “Montenegro is protecting its interests, and no one will jeopardize our European future,” he wrote on X. According to Vijesti, the operation is part of action against the hybrid activities of Rybar, which the United Kingdom and the United States link to Russian propaganda and influence operations.
Montenegrin police said later in the day that officers, together with the National Security Agency and with the support of international partners, had carried out “a targeted and coordinated operation aimed at preventing, detecting, and neutralizing illegal activities on the territory of Montenegro”. They said the group had arrived in the country less than two days earlier and that “sophisticated digital equipment”, including a drone, cameras and several phones, was seized. Because of the findings of the investigation, police said, a decision was taken to expel the five Russian citizens “for reasons of national and internal security”, under the Law on Foreigners.
What Rybar is
Rybar has more than 1.5 million followers on Telegram and covers developments on the Ukrainian front from a pro-Russian perspective. Members of its staff have been sanctioned by the United Kingdom and the European Union, and in 2024 the United States announced a $10 million reward for information on its activities.
Zvinchuk, a former member of the press office of the Russian Defence Ministry, turned Rybar into one of the most influential military OSINT channels, with maps and analyses that are reproduced by Russian state media. The $10 million reward, offered under the US Rewards for Justice programme, concerned information on alleged attempts by Rybar to influence US elections.
Moscow’s reaction
The Russian embassy asked Montenegro to explain the detention of Russian citizens, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian diplomats would work to protect Zvinchuk’s rights. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, threatened on Telegram: “Now we will quite likely have to replenish our exchange pool with European and American morons to get our own people out.”
Montenegro has been a NATO member since 2017 and is leading the accession negotiations with the European Union.
Montenegro and Moscow
Montenegro has been in Moscow’s sights before. On the day of the 2016 parliamentary elections, the authorities reported a coup plot aimed at blocking the country’s entry into NATO, and two Russian intelligence officers were charged in the case. Zvinchuk’s detention comes as the EU presses the candidate countries of the Western Balkans to align with its foreign policy, including sanctions against Russia, and as Moscow still retains strong influence in the region through Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Republika Srpska.
