Mikhail Zvinchuk back in Russia, RTVI says

Russian-language RTVI reported Sunday that Mikhail Zvinchuk, founder of the pro-Kremlin Rybar Telegram channel, had returned to Russia after being detained and deported from Montenegro.

RTVI said Zvinchuk, his wife Valeria and three Rybar employees landed at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport at 1:40 am Sunday, or 2240 GMT Saturday. The outlet posted video of a correspondent interviewing Zvinchuk at the airport, where it said he credited Russia's foreign ministry with his release.

The circumstances of his return were not immediately clear. Montenegro had ordered Zvinchuk's expulsion on Friday on national security grounds but did not say where it would send him.

Police in Montenegro said Zvinchuk, his wife and three other Russian citizens had been arrested as part of a crime prevention operation carried out with the support of international partners. Police did not elaborate.

Zvinchuk, a 35-year-old Russian army veteran who served in Syria, is wanted in the United States for alleged election interference and is under European Union sanctions for alleged promotion of pro-Russia propaganda.

Rybar, which reports on the Ukraine war, said Friday that its team had been in Montenegro legally and officially and had planned to film at the Cetinje Monastery, a Serbian Orthodox site.

Montenegro's Vijesti newspaper reported, citing security sources, that the group planned to film a documentary criticising Montenegro's moves towards the European Union. Montenegro, a Balkan country of about 620,000 people, aspires to complete EU accession talks by the end of the year.