Former Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has said that Russia should take more American and European prisoners in retaliation for the arrest in Montenegro of the founder of a prominent Russian military Telegram channel. Medvedev, a close ally of Vladimir Putin, made the comment in response to the detention of Mikhail Zvinchuk from the channel Rybar, which is linked to the Kremlin. Authorities in the Balkan country detained Zvinchuk as part of a probe targeting suspected Russian "hybrid activities" by Russian information networks.
Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, posted on Telegram that the arrest showed that "a hunt has been declared for all Russians. He added that Moscow may need to "to replenish the (prisoner) exchange fund from European and American morons." Newsweek has contacted the U.S. State Department and the Montenegrin Foreign Ministry for comment and is awaiting responses.
Zvinchuk, 35, is from Vladivostok and he served in Russia’s special forces, before working in the press service of the Russian defense ministry during Moscow’s intervention in the war in Syria. In 2018, he co-founded with his colleague Denis Shchukin the military Telegram channel Rybar ("fisherman"). Once the preserve of military buffs, the channel’s audience grew significantly following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Now it boasts more than 1.5 million followers and has a daily readership of around 600,000, according to independent outlet The Bell. This audience is bigger than many state media outlets. The founders of the channel were anonymous until revealed by The Bell in November 2022.
While Zvinchuk has been given state awards, including one for "merit to the fatherland," his channel has also criticized aspects of Russian forces’ campaign. Despite the unvarnished view of battlefield realities his channel gives, Zvinchuk is an important figure for Putin, The Russian leader invited him at the end of 2022 to be part of his working group for mobilization. Zvinchuk told Russian state media in 2022 that his channel has 40 staff members and is funded by donations.
Rybar also runs affiliated channels of other regions, including "Evropar," "Afrikar," and "Balkanar." The U.S. State Department announced in 2024 a $10 million reward for information on those who worked for Rybar. The department said the channel had tried to interfere in the U.S. presidential election.
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