A Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius was diverted to Minsk and forced to land in Belarus earlier on Sunday. Belarus journalist and opposition activist Roman Pratasevich on board of the Rayanair flight was arrested right after the plane landed in Minsk. This “state hijacking” set the lives of dozens civilians at risk and threatens to trigger a diplomatic incident between Lithuania and Belarus as well as with the NATO and the European Union.
According to Lithuanian state broadcaster LRT, the Ryanair flight from Athens with 120 passengers was to arrive in Vilnius at 13:00 on Sunday, but was forced to turn back before crossing the Lithuanian border and land in the Belarusian capital. Minsk Airport told the Interfax news agency that it had received a report about a bomb onboard.
