Zakharova: In Montenegro Russians Are "Literally Being Hunted" - While Podgorica Expels Five Russian Citizens on Security Grounds

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has accused Montenegro of taking part in the persecution of Russian citizens. According to her, Montenegro is on Russia's list of unfriendly states, and on its territory Russian citizens are "literally being hunted." Harsh words. The trigger, though, was the detention of one blogger and his companions.

Let's take it in order. On 9 October, in Risan, Montenegrin police and the National Security Agency detained Mikhail Zvinchuk, founder of the well-known military analysis project "Rybar", together with his wife and three other Russian citizens. The authorities in Podgorica then decided to expel all five, citing reasons of national and internal security. The Montenegrin side claims the operation was carried out to prevent alleged hybrid activity. Moscow rejects that explanation.

Zakharova didn't stop at Montenegro. She claims Washington has launched a global hunt for Russian citizens and that the danger of detention no longer applies only to countries Moscow officially considers unfriendly. "On several occasions we have warned our citizens about the danger and advised them not to travel to certain countries because of the high risk of detention or arrest on the territory of those states, at the request of US law enforcement agencies and special services," she said.

According to her, the targets aren't just journalists and people linked to politics, but also citizens whose work, at first glance, has nothing to do with international relations. The irony is hard to miss: the case that set off the whole story isn't about a random tourist on holiday in the Bay of Kotor, but about the founder of a military analysis project. That hardly fits the category of "people with no connection to politics."

Montenegro is a NATO member and an EU candidate, so Podgorica clearly judged that the security measure was worth more than peace with Moscow. Moscow judged it to be persecution. Between those two judgements stands the small Balkan state, once again serving as the stage for a message the big players send each other. Is it Podgorica's sovereign decision - or is someone else writing it, with Podgorica just signing?

With the Zvinchuk case, relations between Moscow and Podgorica have grown even sharper. Podgorica talks about hybrid threats, Moscow about a manhunt. So who will be first to show something more than a press release - Podgorica its evidence of hybrid activity, or Moscow its evidence of the "hunt"?