Rybar team released following detention in Montenegro

Russia's Foreign Ministry said the Rybar Telegram project's team had been released. On the evening of October 9, the group was waiting at an airport to leave Montenegro after authorities decided to expel it.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Russian diplomats were helping the group depart. Interfax carried her statement after police reports that Rybar founder Mikhail Zvinchuk, his wife and other team members would be expelled.

The detention took place on the morning of October 9 in Risan, on the Bay of Kotor. RIA Novosti reported that five Russians had been detained, including Zvinchuk's wife Valeria. Police and Montenegro's National Security Agency carried out the operation.

Prime Minister Milojko Spajic linked the security services' actions to efforts against hybrid interference and destabilisation. These statements represent the Montenegrin authorities' position. They do not constitute a judicial finding of guilt.

Rybar's team denied breaking local laws and said its stay in Montenegro was legal. It said the trip included plans to film the Cetinje Monastery, for which it had submitted an official request. Local media also linked the visit to a documentary about Montenegro's visa policy and its closer alignment with the European Union.

Zvinchuk previously worked in the Russian Defence Ministry's press office. He and Denis Shchukin founded Rybar in 2018. The project publishes battlefield maps, military updates and coverage of international conflicts. It has more than 1.5 million subscribers.

The European Union sanctioned Zvinchuk on June 23, 2023. Britain imposed restrictions on him and the Rybar company on December 9, 2025. Separately, a US State Department reward for information announced in October 2024 does not itself establish an arrest warrant or an extradition request.