Belarus MiG-29 ‘threatened to SHOOT DOWN’ Ryanair jet if it did not land

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Belarus threatened to shoot down the Ryanair jet which was yesterday forced to land on a bogus bomb threat so that an opposition journalist could be detained, according to aviation experts. 

It comes amid suspicions over the role of up to four mystery Russians on board the aircraft who voluntarily left the plane in Minsk, not continuing with the flight when it flew to destination Vilnius.

Their presence has stoked fears of Russian secret services involvement in a murky operation to arrest opposition journalist Roman Protasevich, 26, a passenger on the plane who was detained with his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, 23, in Minsk.

The pretext for forcing the plane to land was a bomb threat, but no explosive was found by the Belarus authorities.

There has been condemnation from major Western countries over the forcing down of the Ryanair Boeing 737 from Athens to Vilnius with 123 passengers – but the claim that the Belarus fighter threatened to shoot tourist flight FR 4978 out of the sky deepens the scale of the crisis.

It is clear that Protasevich begged the crew not to obey the order to land in Minsk telling them that ‘they will kill me’.

On the ground he told fellow passengers he could face the ‘death penalty’.

He is a prolific journalist opposing Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko and was wanted for his role in encouraging mass protests against the dictator last year.

It is also clear the plane was significantly closer to Vilnius than Minsk, making a mockery of the claim that it should land at the nearest airport amid a bomb threat rather than return to the Belarus capital.

Leading opposition figure Pavel Latushko said: ‘The air traffic controllers of Minsk-2 airport threatened to shoot at the Ryanair civilian plane with passengers on board.

‘For this reason, a military fighter MiG-29 of Belarus Air Force was sent.

‘This proves again that this incident was an act of state terrorism…

‘It demands an immediate reaction of European authorities and the entire world community.’

Latushko heads the National Anti-Crisis Management, a shadow government set up last year by the Belarusian Coordination Council for the peaceful transfer of power following the ‘rigged’ 2020 election, widely seen as stolen by President Alexander Lukashenko.

He is a former culture minister of Belarus and was the country’s ambassador to France, Spain and Portugal before joining the opposition.

The claim about the shooting had come via the Belarus civil aviation authority, he said.

It was backed by Vadim Lukashevich, a Moscow-based aviation expert, who said:

‘To make it crystal clear – the pilots of the Ryanair plane that was forced to land in Belarus were pulling towards destination Vilnius until the last possible moment.

‘They had to turn back under the threat of a fighter jet when the distance to Vilnius airport was only 10 minutes away (73 km/45 miles), and only 30 km/ 19 miles to the Lithuanian border.’

He claimed the Ryanair pilots were ‘heading towards Lithuania without slowing down… they were escaping from the fighter jet, and they turned back just two minutes before crossing the Lithuanian border. ‘

Flightradar data showed the plane had not slowed to descend at the usual height on this route but appeared to be flying as fast as possible to the border – befiore abruptly turning back, seemingly on the orders of the MiG-29.

He is convinced that ‘the fighter had permission to shoot’, he said.

‘And I am absolutely sure that the crew of the passenger aircraft turned around only after receiving a notification from the Belarusian fighter that, in case of disobedience, it would open fire before the passenger plane left the airspace of Belarus.’

Such an order could only be given by the Belarus president, dictator Alexander Lukashenko.

Meanwhile, a leading Russian investigative journalist Roman Dobrokhotov revealed that as well as Protasevich’s girlfriend Sofia Sapega, four Russian passengers who had been on the flight to Lithuania left it in Minsk.

He claimed: ‘Four citizens of Russia did not continue the flight to Vilnius.

‘This operation was escorted by Russian special services.’

One of Russia’s most respected independent journalists Alexey Venediktov, editor-in-chief of Echo Moscow radio, said: ‘Four more Russians didn’t follow on to Vilnius, but left the plane in Minsk, and dissolved into the nature.’

Another source suggests there were three not four Russians who left the plane, but in any event their identities are not known.

A meme has gone wild on social media portraying as pilots the GRU military intelligence pair Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov who poisoned the Sergei and Yulia Skripal, reflecting a suspicion that Russian special services were involved in the Ryanair plot.

Sofia is a student of the European Humanities University, now based in Vilnius, after its forced closure by Lukashenko’s authorities in Minsk.

She is a Russian citizen, and the university where she studies international law has expressed deep concern for her fate.

Political detainees in Belarus are frequently tortured by the KGB secret service and police.

A passenger named Raselle, a beautician, was videoed on the plane when it landed in Minsk posted a message to say that Protasevich had said to the flight attendant: ‘Don’t do this, they will kill me. I am refugee.’

‘He answered: We must, we have no choice, it’s in Ryanair legal agreements.’

A female passenger on the plane said that Protasevich looked ‘super scared’.

‘I looked directly into his eyes and he was very sad,’ she said.

Planes from regional airline Air Baltic have already started bypassing Belarus air space.

Lithuania – a former Soviet state now in the EU and NATO – has led Western calls for action against its neighbour, Belarus.

‘It is an unprecedented attack against the international community: a civilian plane and its passengers have been hijacked by military force, and a Belarusian citizen has been abducted, whose life and health are in danger,’ said a government statement.

‘It is unjustifiable that ordinary international travellers have been held hostage to the regime’s aggression.

‘This is the act of state terrorism directed against the security of citizens of the European Union and other countries, civil society of Belarus seeking asylum from the regime’s persecution, as well as international civil aviation.

‘Lithuania will demand a clear and uncompromising response from the international community.’

Lithuania said ‘the airspace of Belarus is unsafe for everyone.

‘The EU must take effective measures to protect all individuals, regardless of their nationality, who are at risk from inadequate actions of the regime.

‘ Together with international partners, we will work to close the airspace of Belarus to international flights.

‘What happened today is an attack not only on Lithuania; it is a signal for the entire European Union and international organisations.’

Britain last night strongly condemned the dictator of Belarus after he scrambled a fighter jet to force a Ryanair flight travelling from Greece to Lithuania to land in Minsk so he could arrest a dissident journalist who is now facing the death penalty following an ‘outlandish’ bomb scare. 

Ryanair flight FR4978, carrying 171 passengers, had been flying from Athens to Vilnius yesterday when its crew was warned by Belarusian air traffic control that there had been a report of a bomb on board.

The pilot of the Soviet-era MiG-29 ordered to intercept the airliner signalled that it should make an emergency landing in Minsk Airport. When it did, state security officers arrested Roman Protasevich, a vocal critic of ‘Putin puppet’ Alexander Lukashenko who founded Poland-based opposition news outlet Nexta. 

Protasevich, 26, is wanted in Belarus on charges of extremism and of organising mass riots and inciting social hatred after he broadcast footage of the huge anti-regime protests via the Telegram messenger app last year – allegations which he denies. If convicted, the blogger could be sentenced to death.   

Britain, the US, Ireland, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and the Czech Republic all lined up last night to denounce the ‘state-sponsored terror act’, and called for the toughening of existing sanctions against the Lukashenko regime as well as the release of Protasevich.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab tweeted: ‘The UK is alarmed by reports of the arrest of journalist Roman Protasevich & circumstances that led to his flight being forced to land in Minsk. We are coordinating with our allies. This outlandish action by Lukashenko will have serious implications.’  

Tom Tugendhat, Tory chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, joined foreign counterparts in condemning the Belarus action as ‘an act of piracy’ and calling for the suspension of all overflights.

‘This act of state terror and kidnapping is a threat to all those who travel in Europe and beyond. It cannot be allowed to stand,’ they thundered in a joint statement released last night.   

Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the incident ‘shocking’ and accused Lukashenko’s regime of endangering the lives of those aboard the aircraft, some of them Americans. He also called for the release of Pratasevich and for the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization to review the incident. 

US Ambassador Julie Fisher called the hijacking ‘dangerous and abhorrent’, and added that Belarus had ‘showed again its contempt for international community and its citizens’.   

Brussels is set to discuss strengthening sanctions against Belarus, imposed over the crackdown on opposition protesters, at a pre-planned summit on Monday. EU chief Ursula von der Leyen tweeted: ‘The outrageous and illegal behaviour of the regime in Belarus will have consequences. Those responsible for the Ryanair hijacking must be sanctioned. Journalist Roman Protasevich must be released immediately.’

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that ‘such an act cannot be left without definite consequences from the side of the European Union’ and called for Pratasevich to be released. 

Polish premier Mateusz Morawiecki denounced Belarus’s actions as ‘an act of state terrorism’, while French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called for a ‘strong and united response’ from the EU. Lithuania and Latvia have called for international flights not to use Belarusian airspace.