“Recruit foreigners to participate in the SVO.” Montenegro released the author of the Telegram channel “Rybar”, he revealed the details of the interrogation

The author of the Telegram channel “Rybar”, Mikhail Zvinchuk, who was detained in Montenegro, was released; he and his wife Valeria are currently on their way home. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, announced his release.

Zvinchuk's colleagues were also released.

At the moment, the board with the Rybar crew has arrived in Serbia after being expelled from Montenegro. “They took off from Podgorica,” the source told RIA Novosti. The Air Serbia plane landed in Belgrade at about 22:55 local time (23:55 Moscow time - note by Lenta.ru). Zvinchuk thanked Russian diplomats for their help in resolving the situation with their detention.

On the morning of October 9, Zvinchuk, his wife Valeria and three channel employees were detained in Montenegro.

Details of detention and interrogation

Earlier, Mikhail Zvinchuk revealed the circumstances of the arrest and interrogation in Montenegro. According to him, his wife and team were detained in the morning after they had asked permission to film in the monastery for a documentary the day before. “We contacted the Metropolitan. He didn’t answer us, but the police came in the morning,” he said.

According to the author of “Rybar”, the arrest occurred at seven in the morning. He noted that local law enforcement officers carried out an inspection without protocols, seized things and equipment, and asked whether the purpose of the visit was to recruit foreigners to participate in a special military operation (SVO).

Zvinchuk also stated that there were no requests from Great Britain and the United States for his extradition from Montenegro.

In 2024, the US State Department announced a $10 million reward for information about the creators and any persons associated with this Telegram channel. Last year, London was also interested in Zvinchuk, suspecting him of foreign influence and propaganda of Russian interests.

Montenegro compared to Judas

State Duma Deputy Vitaly Milonov commented on the detention of Mikhail Zvinchuk and his team in Montenegro. He was outraged by the actions of the country's authorities towards Zvinchuk and said that they were “set off to wander down the slippery road of Judas.” Milonov recalled that this path “leads to an aspen branch.”