Star Metro - Montenegro expels popular Russian war blogger wanted by US

Zvinchuk, who served with the Russian army in Syria and founded the Rybar Telegram channel, is wanted by the United States for alleged election interference and has been sanctioned by the European Union for promoting pro-Russia propaganda.

Montenegro's police directorate and the National Security Agency (ANB) "identified five Russian nationals whose stay in the country was cancelled and who were issued expulsion orders on grounds of national and internal security", an interior ministry statement said.

The operation was carried out with the "support of international partners", it added. Authorities did not say where Zvinchuk and the other four would be sent to.

The five, identified only by their initials, entered Montenegro less than two days ago, and were staying at a hotel in the coastal town of Risan, the statement said.

"M.Z. was identified as leader and member of the Russian political-hybrid network Rybar."

Rybar, in a statement on its Telegram channel, confirmed the arrests of Zvinchuk, 35, and other Russian citizens. The arrest was also confirmed by Montenegro's Prime Minister Milojko Spajic.

Rybar said the group were in Montenegro "legally and officially" and had planned to film at the Cetinje Monastery, a Serbian Orthodox site.

According to the Vijesti newspaper website, Zvinchuk's wife was among those arrested.

They had been planning to film a documentary criticising Montenegro's steps to move closer to the European Union that would have had "negative consequences for tourism, economic stability and Montenegro's national interests", sources told the newspaper.

The Balkan nation of 620,000 people aspires to complete EU accession talks by the end of the year.

- 'Pro-Kremlin propaganda'-

Police said they had seized "sophisticated digital equipment and devices" from the Russian nationals, including high-resolution equipment, a drone, a camera, a GoPro camera and several mobile phones.

Prime Minister Spajic hailed the operation. "The message... is clear: institutions are doing their work, Montenegro protects its interests and no one will jeopardise our European future," he said on X.

Meanwhile, according to the investigative journalism site Detektor.ba, Zvinchuk had been in Bosnia prior to entering Montenegro, including for its general election on Sunday.

Washington has offered a $10 million reward for information on Zvinchuk and several other Rybar employees.

The EU sanctioned him over actions that it said "undermine and threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine" and accused him of distributing "disinformation and pro-Kremlin propaganda about the war".

Military bloggers surged to prominence in Russia at the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

With inside information from the army and defence ministry, they were given leeway to discuss and criticise Moscow's military failures -- typically pushing for a more aggressive campaign -- despite heavy censorship.

In 2023, Zvinchuk told AFP that his work was helping to "defend" Russia.

"We rose to defend our motherland in the world of information. We became its shield," he said at the time.

burs-ljv/tw

A.Lavoie--SMC