As reported by Izvestia, on October 9 in Montenegro the founder of the Telegram channel Rybar, Mikhail Zvinchuk, his wife, and three other project employees were detained. The team said it was in the country legally and was preparing a shoot at Cetinje Monastery at an official request, while the Russian embassy demanded an explanation for the detention and consular access for the Russians.
Later, Zvinchuk, his wife, and the employees were decided to be expelled on national and internal security grounds. After that, he flew to Moscow and told Izvestia that he had no fears about being deported to a European country or the United States.
Zvinchuk said that the main efforts to secure his release were made by the Russian Foreign Ministry, and he separately thanked the ministry, the security services, and the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. According to him, Zakharova coordinated the work of Russian embassies in Montenegro and Serbia.
He also said that the equipment taken from him and those accompanying him must be returned within 90 days. Zvinchuk added that border guards even checked his wife’s underwear and the number of pairs of shoes in the suitcases, but did not pay attention to who he was.
According to Zvinchuk, he felt Russophobia at the level of the security services, but did not notice it from local residents. “In essence, we have now been convinced that in a country where one twentieth of the population are Russians, whose economy depends entirely on Russia, Russians are not treated very well at the level of the security services”, he said.
