Montenegrin police and the National Security Agency (ANB) detained Mikhail Zvinchuk, founder of the pro-war Russian Telegram channel Rybar, in the coastal town of Risan on 9 October 2026. Zvinchuk, a former Russian army officer sanctioned by the European Union and Britain over Russia's war against Ukraine, had come with his wife and three staff to film a documentary about Montenegro aligning its visa rules with European Union standards. Security sources told the daily Vijesti that the film was meant to portray European integration as harmful to the country and that Montenegrin services had tracked the group for days.

Detention in Risan

Officers of the Tivat security department carried out the operation with the ANB on the morning of 9 October in Risan, on the Bay of Kotor, the Podgorica daily Vijesti reported. His wife Valeria Zvinchuk and three other members of the project were detained with him.

Vijesti, citing security sources, reported that the operation targeted suspected hybrid activity by the Rybar network. British and US authorities link the network to Russian government propaganda and influence campaigns abroad. Montenegrin services knew in advance that the group was coming, the same sources told the paper.

Drones, sophisticated digital equipment, other electronic devices and phones were found with Zvinchuk and the four people detained with him, according to Vijesti's security sources.

Izvestia, the Russian daily, reported that Zvinchuk was detained at the Mövenpick hotel where he was staying, citing hotel staff. The paper also reported that the couple was taken to Podgorica for questioning and that their phones and documents were seized.

Izvestia gave the same purpose for the trip. Vijesti's security sources said the film would present European integration as a politically imposed process that would damage tourism, economic stability and Montenegro's national interests.

Milojko Spajić, the prime minister, wrote on X that the operation confirmed hybrid activity his government had warned about. "This is not the moment for hasty statements, but nor for naive conclusions," he wrote. Spajić wrote that the government would not disclose matters belonging to the security services and that no one would threaten Montenegro's European future.

Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said the Russian embassy in Montenegro was looking into the circumstances of the detention, Izvestia reported.

Vijesti reported that criminal processing of the five was under way.

Zvinchuk and Rybar

Zvinchuk, 35, was born in Vladivostok and trained as a military interpreter in Arabic and English at the Defence Ministry's Military University. The investigative outlet The Bell reported that he then served in a GRU special forces unit as commander of a reconnaissance group. He later worked in the Defence Ministry press service during Russia's intervention in Syria and left the military in 2019.

The Bell identified Zvinchuk as the creator of Rybar in November 2022. He founded the channel with Moscow programmer Denis Shchukin. Rybar now has more than 1.5 million subscribers. The Bell reported that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the late founder of the Wagner group, funded the channel for a period through his Internet Research Agency.

Vladimir Putin appointed Zvinchuk on 20 December 2022 to a working group on mobilisation for the war in Ukraine. The European Union sanctioned him on 23 June 2023 for supporting actions that undermine Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence.

Britain sanctioned Rybar LLC and Zvinchuk on 9 December 2025. On 13 July 2026 it added 10 Rybar managers and staff, among them Valeria Zvinchuk, whom the Russian outlet Important Stories describes as the project's co-owner. The US State Department offered a reward of up to 10 million dollars in 2024 for information on Zvinchuk and eight others tied to the project.

What Rybar does

Rybar's Telegram channel publishes battlefield reports on Russia's war in Ukraine alongside pro-war propaganda that follows the Russian government's line, OCCRP reported. Zvinchuk also appears on Vladimir Solovyov's programmes on Russian state television as an expert from the front, according to Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR).

HUR's sanctions file accuses Zvinchuk of using the channel to justify the invasion, discredit the Ukrainian armed forces and delegitimise the Ukrainian government. The file describes him calling the Ukrainian government the "Kyiv regime", presenting "denazification" as the aim of the war and backing the forced absorption of occupied territory. It also accuses Rybar of producing comics for young readers that romanticise the Russian army and denigrate Ukrainian soldiers.

Russian-installed authorities in occupied Crimea awarded Zvinchuk the order For Fidelity to Duty in June 2023 for his contribution to journalism there. Putin awarded him a medal of the Order For Merit to the Fatherland, second class, in November 2023.

Britain designated Zvinchuk in December 2025 as a person promoting policies that destabilise Ukraine and threaten its territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence. It listed Rybar LLC among four entities affiliated with Pravfond, a foundation backed by the Russian government. The UK government said Pravfond funded Russian-language outlets in Brussels that spread Russian government propaganda while hiding their ties to the Russian state.

The US State Department's reward offer in October 2024 accused Rybar of using its reach to promote pro-Russian and anti-Western views and to deepen social and political divisions in the United States before the presidential election. It said Rybar ran the #HOLDTHELINE hashtag and an X channel called TEXASvsUSA that posted about illegal immigration. The department also said a sanctioned Russian state defence company had funded Rybar.

Zvinchuk visited Banja Luka at least twice in spring 2024 and met directors of government agencies in Republika Srpska, the Bosnian investigative outlet Detektor reported. Rybar announced in June 2024 that he had agreed with the head of the entity's Agency for Information and Communication Technologies to set up a media school and other joint projects in the Balkans. The EU said any cooperation with Zvinchuk would breach sanctions Bosnia and Herzegovina has committed to uphold.

Rybar crews in Europe

Seznam Zprávy reported on 22 September that Czech police had detained Rybar cameraman Igor Dolmatov and Germany-based television journalist Vitaly Chashchukhin and ordered them to leave the country within three days. Rybar teams working in Europe regularly interview politicians, journalists and experts, the Czech outlet found. Zvinchuk and his crew were detained in Montenegro less than three weeks later. Vijesti reported that police and the ANB would take further measures within their powers to protect national security.