2 week agoUS Sec of State Blinken condemns Belarus' Lukashenka government forced downing of Ryanair flight & arrest of journalist Roman Protasevich. Says US coordinating response with EU
Ursula von der Leyen:The outrageous and illegal behaviour of the government in Belarus will have consequences. Those responsible for the Ryanair hijacking must be sanctioned. Journalist Roman Protasevich must be released immediately. EUCO will discuss tomorrow action to take
2 week agoLithuanian PM Ingrida Šimonytė is in the airport in Vilnius where crowds have gathered to greet the plane from Minsk.There is information that 2 Belarusian citizens and 4 Russians didn't arrive. Another Belarusian citizen is Raman's friend with whom he was flying back to Vilnius
Jens Stoltenberg: Closely monitoring forcible landing in Belarus of flight to Vilnius & reported detention of opposition figure Roman Protasevich. This is a serious & dangerous incident which requires international investigation. Belarus must ensure safe return of crew & all passengers
Ryanair landed in Vilnius
Statement from @Ryanair to @VOANews on the incident involving FR4978
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda:Unprecedented event. A civilian passenger plane flying to Vilnius was forcibly landed in Minsk. Belarusian political activist & founder of @NEXTA_EN was on the plane. He is arrested. Belarusian government is behind the abhorrent action. I demand to free Roman Protasevič urgently
Lithuanian FM: Disturbing news regarding @Ryanair plane from Athens to Vilnius forced landing in Minsk. Working with international partners to secure safe passage back to Vilnius for all passengers
2 week agoTsikhaunovskaya: regime forced the landing @Ryanair plane in Minsk to arrest journalist and activist Raman Pratasevich. He faces the death penalty in Belarus. We demand immediate release of Raman, @ICAO investigation, and sanctions against Belarus
Russian media report a Belarusian fighter jet was sent to escort Nexta founder's plane, on Lukshenko's orders
2 week agoBelarus media reporting that a @Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius, while over Belarus airspace was ordered to land in Minsk, where a journalist critical of the Lukashenka government was taken from the plane and detained. Some reports say a fighter jet was also used
2 week agoRyanair Boeing 737 FR4978 Athens-Vilnius landed after bomb threat at the Minsk National Airport. Roman Protasevich, ex chief editor of @NEXTA_EN, was on the board. He is reported to be detained
Lukashenka again called on the heads of the Eurasian Economic Union countries to take a serious political decision to abandon US Dollar on internal hydrocarbon market
Reportedly a Brest police chief who was responsible for a crackdown on protesters, Gennady Voytovich, has committed suicide by hanging
3 week agoBelarus: The administrative building of the Roman Catholic Church was attacked in Minsk. The window of the car of its pastor Antoni Klimantovich was destroyed. Catholic activists said that the car is similar to the one that belongs to Bishop Yuri Kasabutsky,who supported @tutby
3 week agoBelarusian minister of defense visited Azerbaijani rocket troops unit armed with Belarusian-made Polonez missiles
Belarusian military Yak-130 aircraft crashed in Baranovichy, 2 pilots killed
3 week agoIn Vilnius people have been protesting opposite the Belarusian embassy against the crackdown on independent media outlet TUT. by. "This government has no future" says one of the signs
3 week agoPolice and/or KGB officers come out of the building in Minsk where editor-in-chief of Tut.by Marina Zolotova lives
Belarusian Security Council recorded 25 flights of reconnaissance and unmanned aircraft near western border in a week, also recorded "actions of special forces in Poland
studying routes to the Belarusian border"
Authorities in Belarus raided the offices of the country's largest independent news outlet and took down its website on Tuesday, signalling a widening crackdown in the wake of historic opposition protests last year
Belarusian army launched sudden combat readiness check of rocket troops. 100 vehicles and 500 servicemen will be involved
Website of Belarus's biggest independent news outlet is blocked after authorities raid its offices
The Department of Financial Investigations came with searches to the offices of TUT.BY and Hoster.by, and also came to the home of several journalists of the portal
3 week agoLukashenka chairs meeting of National Security council. Extension of council authority discussed
3 week agoJournalists detained in Mahiliou arrested for 20 days
Lukashenka signed amendments granting law enforcement officers the right to use weapons and special means "taking into account the current situation"
Belarus, together with the Russian Federation, is ready to confront the challenges and threats from NATO, - Belarusian General Staff said.
NATO aircraft during demonstration flights, with a high degree of probability, is practicing striking at Belarus and the Russian Federation, the General Staff of the Belarusian Armed Forces said.
In Belarus, the human rights centre Viasna NGO designated another five individuals as political prisoners; the total number of political prisoners in Belarus reached 377 to date
