The founder of the famous Russian military telegram channel “Rybar”, Mikhail Zvinchuk, was detained in Montenegro along with his wife and several employees.
The fact of the propagandist’s detention was confirmed by the Prime Minister of Montenegro Milojko Spajic and the telegram channel itself. “Montenegro defends its interests and no one will jeopardize our European future,” Spajic wrote on Network X, declining to give details but mentioning “attempts at destabilization and hybrid actions.”
The Rybar telegram channel stated that Zvinchuk and other Russian citizens were in Montenegro “legally and officially” and planned to film the Cetinje Monastery, for which they submitted an official request.
According to Montenegrin media, cited by Russian state news agencies, Zvinchuk, his wife and three other employees were detained in the coastal city of Risan. According to map services, the trip from Risan to the Cetinje Monastery by road is about 70 km.
According to Montenegrin media, the Montenegrin National Security Agency took part in the arrest.
The Russian Embassy in Montenegro told the BBC Russian Service that after publications in the Montenegrin media about the detention of “M. Zvinchuk, V. Zvinchuk and several other Russian citizens” sent requests to the Montenegrin authorities demanding clarification of the reasons for the detention and provision of consular access to the Russians.
"Rybar" became widely known at the very beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The figure of its founder was initially unknown to the general public, until in November 2022, the emigrated publication The Bell wrote that the channel was run by a former military translator and employee of the press service of the Ministry of Defense, Mikhail Zvinchuk. A few days later, he himself confirmed this publicly and subsequently began speaking openly in the Russian media, including on state television. At the beginning of December 2022, the Russian Ministry of Justice included The Bell in the register of “foreign agents.”
After Zvinchuk was detained in Montenegro, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, without mentioning him by name, wrote in a telegram: “Anyone can be arrested, especially if he tells the truth about Western countries, the EU and Bandera’s neo-Nazi regime. Only Relocant scum are welcome. And even then it’s temporary. Now, it is likely that we will need to replenish the exchange fund from European and American morons in order to get our own out. There is no other way: to live with wolves - howl like a wolf..."
According to the British sanctions list, Zvinchuk not only founded Rybar, but also continues to play a leadership role in it, equivalent to the position of director.
Although “Rybar” openly and unconditionally supports Russian aggression against Ukraine, it does not always fully reproduce the version of the Russian Ministry of Defense and sometimes criticizes the country’s military leadership. In addition to the Telegram channel, “Rybar” includes a website of the same name and channels on video hosting sites.
These resources cover not only the war in Ukraine, but also other geopolitical events. Rybar openly calls itself a propaganda media outlet.
In a message about Zvinchuk’s arrest, the telegram channel stated that publications would continue as before.
“Rybar” and Zvinchuk personally are under a number of Western sanctions. The UK imposed sanctions on both of them in December 2025. Valeria Vladimirovna Zvinchuk was also sanctioned, who, according to the British sanctions list, is the creative director of Rybar (this entry has not been updated since then).
The European Union imposed sanctions against Zvinchuk in June 2023.
