Montenegro arrests Russian war blogger Mikhail Zvinchuk as US offers $10m reward for his location

From the Newshound archive · first published 9 October 2026 · last updated 10 October 2026.

Montenegro's police and security services detained Mikhail Zvinchuk, founder of the pro-Kremlin Rybar Telegram channel, at a luxury hotel in the coastal town of Risan on Friday in what the prime minister called a successful operation against hybrid warfare. Zvinchuk's wife and three associates were also seized, with phones and passports confiscated before the group was taken to the capital Podgorica for questioning. The US State Department had already placed a reward of up to $10 million on Zvinchuk over alleged election interference and malign influence operations. Rybar, which has more than 1.5 million Telegram subscribers, is one of Russia's most influential pro-war blogs.

Zvinchuk, a former Russian Defence Ministry press officer, had boasted on video that he entered Montenegro despite being on European sanctions lists, blaming a negligent border guard.

Prime Minister Milojko Spajić said Montenegro's institutions were protecting the country's European future, warning that hybrid destabilisation attempts had 'relentlessly accompanied' its EU path.

Rybar claimed the group was in Montenegro legally to film a local monastery and called for their prompt release, while Moscow's Foreign Ministry said its embassy was working to establish the circumstances of the detention.