Alleged Montenegro coup plot (2016)
On the eve of Montenegro's parliamentary elections, prosecutors alleged Russian intelligence agents plotted to assassinate then-Prime Minister Milo Đukanović and seize parliament to stop Montenegro joining NATO. Twenty people, including two Russians, were indicted.
Montenegro joined NATO in 2017 despite the alleged plot, and two Russians were convicted in absentia in 2019.
The episode cemented Montenegro's Western alignment and established a pattern of Russian hybrid operations in the Balkans that Western allies now watch for.
The 2016 plot is the backdrop for Montenegro's current caution: the expulsion of Zvinchuk shows the same security services actively countering perceived Russian interference a decade later.
