{"id":1450888,"date":"2026-10-09T12:46:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T09:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/?p=1450888"},"modified":"2026-10-09T12:46:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T09:46:19","slug":"owner-of-russian-tv-channel-rybar-detained-in-montenegro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/owner-of-russian-tv-channel-rybar-detained-in-montenegro\/","title":{"rendered":"Owner of Russian TV channel \u201cRybar\u201d detained in Montenegro"},"content":{"rendered":"

The head of the Russian propaganda network “Rybar” Mykhailo Zvinchuk and four of his accomplices were detained in Montenegro on the morning of October 9. Among those detained was the propagandist’s wife, Valeria Zvinchuk.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This<\/span> is<\/span> reported by<\/span> the Montenegrin<\/span> publications<\/span> Vijesti<\/span><\/a> and<\/span> Pobjeda.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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Zvinchuk<\/span> was detained<\/span> on the morning<\/span> of October<\/span> 9<\/span> in<\/span> the town of<\/span> Rysan.<\/span> Among those<\/span> detained<\/span> were<\/span> his<\/span> wife<\/span> and<\/span> associate<\/span> , Valeria<\/span> Zvinchuk,<\/span> as<\/span> well as<\/span> three<\/span> other<\/span> people.<\/span><\/p>\n

The operation<\/span> is being conducted<\/span> by the Montenegrin<\/span> police<\/span> in conjunction<\/span> with<\/span> the country’s National<\/span> Security<\/span> Agency<\/span> .<\/span> Its<\/span> goal<\/span> is<\/span> to disrupt<\/span> the hybrid<\/span> activities<\/span> of the Rybar network<\/span> ,<\/span> which<\/span> British<\/span> and<\/span> American<\/span> authorities<\/span> have linked<\/span> to<\/span> the spread<\/span> of Kremlin<\/span> propaganda<\/span> and<\/span> foreign<\/span> information<\/span> influence operations<\/span> .<\/span><\/p>\n

Montenegrin<\/span> Prime Minister<\/span> Milojko<\/span> Spajic<\/span> confirmed<\/span> Zvinchuk’s detention<\/span> .<\/span> He<\/span> stressed<\/span> that<\/span> the country<\/span> is protecting<\/span> its own<\/span> interests<\/span> and<\/span> will not<\/span> allow<\/span> anyone<\/span> to threaten<\/span> its<\/span> European<\/span> future.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Now<\/span> is<\/span> not<\/span> the time<\/span> for<\/span> hasty<\/span> statements,<\/span> but<\/span> also<\/span> for<\/span> naive<\/span> conclusions<\/span> ,”<\/span> Spajic wrote<\/span> on<\/span> the<\/span> social network<\/span> X.<\/span><\/p>\n

What<\/span> is known<\/span> about<\/span> the “<\/span> Rybar”<\/span> network?<\/h3>\n

Mikhail<\/span> Zvinchuk<\/span> is<\/span> a former<\/span> employee<\/span> of the press service<\/span> of the Russian Ministry of<\/span> Defense<\/span> .<\/span> He<\/span> created<\/span> the Telegram channel “<\/span> Rybar”,<\/span> which<\/span> currently<\/span> has<\/span> over<\/span> 1.5<\/span> million<\/span> subscribers,<\/span> together<\/span> with<\/span> his colleague<\/span> Denis<\/span> Shchukin.<\/span><\/p>\n

Initially,<\/span> the channel<\/span> specialized<\/span> in<\/span> military<\/span> analytics<\/span> and<\/span> coverage of<\/span> armed<\/span> conflicts,<\/span> and<\/span> after<\/span> the start of<\/span> Russia’s<\/span> full-scale<\/span> invasion<\/span> of<\/span> Ukraine,<\/span> it became<\/span> part<\/span> of an extensive<\/span> network<\/span> of information<\/span> resources.<\/span><\/p>\n

British<\/span> authorities<\/span> call<\/span> Zvinchuk<\/span> a co-owner<\/span> and<\/span> CEO<\/span> of Rybar<\/span> and<\/span> claim<\/span> that<\/span> the<\/span> network’s<\/span> activities<\/span> are partly<\/span> coordinated by<\/span> the Russian presidential<\/span> administration<\/span> .<\/span> According to<\/span> the<\/span> UK<\/span> ,<\/span> the project<\/span> receives<\/span> funding<\/span> from<\/span> the Russian<\/span> state<\/span> corporation<\/span> Rostec<\/span> and<\/span> cooperates<\/span> with<\/span> representatives<\/span> of Russian<\/span> intelligence services.<\/span><\/p>\n

Zvinchuk<\/span> is<\/span> under<\/span> British<\/span> sanctions.<\/span> The US<\/span> State<\/span> Department<\/span> has also<\/span> linked<\/span> him<\/span> to<\/span> foreign<\/span> influence<\/span> operations<\/span> aimed<\/span> at<\/span> the US<\/span> electoral<\/span> process.<\/span> The US<\/span> is offering<\/span> a reward<\/span> of up to<\/span> $<\/span> 10<\/span> million<\/span> for<\/span> information<\/span> leading<\/span> to<\/span> the identification<\/span> or<\/span> capture<\/span> of individuals<\/span> involved<\/span> in<\/span> such<\/span> interference<\/span> .<\/p>\n

According to<\/span> The<\/a><\/span> Bell<\/span> ,<\/span> the<\/span> founder of<\/span> the private<\/span> military<\/span> company<\/span> Wagner<\/span> ,<\/span> Yevgeny<\/span> Prigozhin,<\/span> also<\/span> participated<\/span> in<\/span> financing<\/span> the Telegram channel.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Also follow \u201cPryamim\u201d<\/strong> on Facebook<\/a> , X<\/a> , Telegram<\/a> , and Instagram.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The head of the Russian propaganda network “Rybar” Mykhailo Zvinchuk and four of his accomplices were detained in Montenegro on the morning of October 9. Among those detained was the propagandist’s wife, Valeria Zvinchuk. This is reported by the Montenegrin publications Vijesti and Pobjeda. Zvinchuk was detained on the morning of October 9 in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":1450878,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[76871,76872,76873,76875],"class_list":["post-1450888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-2","category-news-feed","category-events","category-other-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1450888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1450888"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1450888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1450889,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1450888\/revisions\/1450889"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1450878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1450888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1450888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}