On the morning of October 9, the author of the Telegram channel “Rybar”, Russian military blogger Mikhail Zvinchuk, as well as his wife Valeria and three people from his team were detained in Montenegro. They came to the country to film a documentary film dedicated to European integration. According to Western media reports, Zvinchuk and other detainees are suspected of conducting information influence operations. The detention of the blogger and his team caused a sharp reaction in Russia.
One of the first to react to Zvinchuk’s detention was the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova. She said that the Russian Embassy in Montenegro is investigating the circumstances of the incident.
Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin is already aware of the detention of the author of the Telegram channel “Rybar”. He added that Russian diplomats will be involved in protecting the blogger.
War correspondent Alexander Kots wrote in his Telegram channel that Zvinchuk’s documentary was supposed to tell how Montenegro, in accordance with the requirements of the European Union (EU), introduces visas for Russians from November 1. In his opinion, the security services fear that the picture will show European integration as an imposed process that will hit tourism and the economy of the Balkan country.
Kots ironically called Montenegro “a diligent EU candidate.” “She needs to hand in her homework. Five Russians with a camera in a report on European integration look great,” he added.
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev commented on the situation. According to him, the detention of Zvinchuk indicates that in Europe “potentially a hunt has been announced for all Russians.”
Medvedev admitted that Russia will now have to “replenish the exchange fund” from citizens of European countries and the United States. “There is no other way: to live with wolves is to howl like a wolf,” he concluded.
The opinion that Russians are being hunted in Europe was also expressed by military correspondent Yevgeny Poddubny. In a conversation with RT, he called Zvinchuk “a hostage of the collective West” and emphasized that any Russian citizen in Western countries “cannot feel safe at all.”
Vice-President of the Russian branch of the International Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, Ivan Melnikov, in a conversation with aif.ru, noted that charges of disseminating disinformation could be brought against Zvinchuk and his team - in this case, they could face imprisonment for up to five years. “But it may well be just administrative responsibility, given that they had no previous convictions,” he suggested.
At the same time, the expert warned that more serious consequences will await the military correspondent and his employees if the United States sends a request for their extradition. In 2024, the US State Department announced a $10 million reward for information about the creators of the Rybar Telegram channel and any persons associated with them. According to the American department, the project “interfered in the American elections by reporting on the problems of illegal migrants in the United States, which sowed partisan and racial discord, and also encouraged hatred and violence.”
“Montenegro is a NATO country, there is a high probability and danger that Zvinchuk and his team could be extradited. And in America they could face dozens of years in prison,” Melnikov clarified.
