Ryanair hijacking: Roman Protasevich’s girlfriend, 23, appears in her own leaked confession video
Belarus dictator Lukashenko says Ryanair bomb threat came from Switzerland – after blaming Hamas – and warns critics have ‘crossed red lines’ after Roman Protasevich’s girlfriend appears in ‘confession’ video amid fears the pair have been tortured
- Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko defied international criticism today as he gave a fiery speech to lawmakers following the arrest of critic Roman Protasevich and girlfriend Sofia Sapega at the weekend
- Dictator accused Protasevich of plotting ‘bloody rebellion’ against his regime as part of an international plot
- He accused western leaders of waging a ‘hybrid war’ against Belarus, and said Russia will be the next target
- Came hours after new video was released showing Ms Sapega ‘confessing’ to helping protesters in Belarus inside detention, as family members said they fear she is being tortured
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko has defied his critics in a fiery speech today – insisting he acted ‘lawfully’ when he diverted a Ryanair jet at the weekend so he could arrest a dissident journalist and his girlfriend.
Shrugging off international outcry at the arrest, Lukashenko told parliament that blogger Roman Protasevich was plotting a ‘bloody rebellion’ against his regime and suggested it is part of a western plot to ‘strangle’ Belarus.
‘Our ill-wishers from outside and inside the country have changed the methods of attacking the state,’ he told lawmakers. ‘They have crossed red lines, crossed the boundaries of common sense and human morality.
‘This is no longer an information war, this is a hybrid modern war. Everything must be done, so that it does not grow into a hot one.’
It comes after world leaders including Joe Biden, Boris Johnson, Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron and Justin Trudeau lined up to accuse Lukashenko of ‘hijacking’ the aircraft while vowing he would pay a ‘bitter price’ for the ‘outrageous’ act. EU leaders have already moved to cut off air travel with Belarus, and are prepping sanctions.
Lukasheko also suggested the bomb threat which prompted him to divert the Ryanair flight carrying Protasevich and Sofia Sapega came from Switzerland – despite officials previously pointing the finger of blame at Hamas.
Both Roman and Sofia are now being held in jail in Minsk. He is wanted on terrorism charges over protests that erupted against Lukashenko last summer, while she is being held for unspecified ‘violations of the legal code’.
Late Tuesday, media channels linked to Lukashenko’s regime published footage of Sofia in detention, apparently confessing to publishing private details of Belarusian police online – a crime punishable by 15 years in jail.
It comes a day after Protasevich appeared in a very similar video in which he ‘admitted’ to having organised mass demonstrations in Belarus last year. Allies and families of the pair fear they are being tortured, and say both confessions were forced.
Alexander Lukashenko, the strongman leader of Belarus, has accused jailed journalist Roman Protasevich of plotting ‘bloody rebellion’ against his regime – suggesting it is part of a western plot to ‘strangle’ Russia and its allies
A clip posted on a pro-Lukashenko channel on the Telegram messaging app on Tuesday showed a woman sitting in a chair who said she was Sofia Sapega, the partner of opposition blogger Roman Protasevich
Roman Protasevich has appeared on camera for the first time since his arrested on Sunday (left), as his father says it appears his nose is broken and that he is wearing makeup – possibly to conceal bruising on the side of his face, with marks visible on his forehead (Protasevich is pictured right in 2017, for comparison)
Natalia and Dzmitry Protasevich, the parents of Roman who was arrested in the Belarusian capital of Minsk on Sunday, are begging the international community to save their son
Opposition journalist Roman Protasevich, 26, (pictured after he was separated from other passengers) was hauled off the plane and arrested with his Russian girlfriend Sofia Sapega, 23, after the flight from Greece to Lithuania made the emergency landing in Minsk
Belarusian dog handler checks luggage from the Ryanair flight in Minsk International Airport on May 23
Lukashenko also claimed the bomb threat that caused him to divert the jet came from Switzerland, contradicting Belarus officials who previously said it originated with Hamas – something the group denies.
Meanwhile the parents of both Roman and Sofia told of their fears for their children since videos of the pair were released, with Roman’s father Dzmitry saying it appears his son’s nose is broken in the footage.
Mr Protasevich added that Roman appears to be wearing makeup to hide bruising on his face, and may be missing some teeth.
While Sofia does not appear to be injured in her video, mother Anna Dudich said she seems ‘afraid’ and is not speaking in a normal manner. ‘She sways, eyes in the sky – as if afraid of forgetting something,’ she told the BBC, describing the footage as a ‘setup’.
Protasevich, 26, is on Belarus’s most-wanted list for helping run a Telegram channel used to organise protests against dictator Alexander Lukashenko last year. Sapega, a law student who has been dating him for six months, is not thought to be linked to his political activities.
Roman is wanted on extremism charges and is on a terrorist list put together by the Belarus government. The country has not made it clear what charges Sofia is facing, saying only that she is being held ‘under several articles of the Belarusian Criminal Code’ and will be in jail for at least two months.
Anna insists that her daughter was innocent and simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Protasevich’s mother has been begging the international community to save her son. Natalia Protasevich said the country’s authorities are ‘going to kill him’ unless world leaders help get him released.
She and her husband Dzmitry Protasevich said they saw clear signs of their son having been beaten in the first footage of him since he was detained.
Mr Protasevich, 48, said his son had been ‘forced’ to film the video confession which was released on state TV late Monday and appeared to have a broken nose and missing teeth.
‘I’m asking, I’m begging, I’m calling on the whole international community to save him,’ Mrs Protasevich said, breaking down in tears. She said she has not slept for two nights and grips her phone tightly, hoping for any news of her son.
‘He’s only one journalist, he’s only one child but please, please. I’m begging for help,’ she said. ‘Please save him. They’re going to kill him in there.’
Protasevich’s parents said they think he might be in a detention centre run by the secret service, still known as the KGB.
But they do not know for sure and the uncertainty is torturing them.
‘The lawyer tried to see him today but she was turned down, she could not see him. We still don’t know if he is in there, what his condition is, how he is feeling,’ said Mr Protasevich, , a former soldier.
‘One of the ways our authorities torture is by not telling relatives where their loved ones are being held until the last minute,’ he said.
Mr Protasevich said his son looked extremely nervous in the video footage which emerged on Monday and appeared to have bruises on the left side of his face and on his neck.
‘The video was clearly staged. It was done under pressure and it should not be believed,’ he said. But, he added, ‘at least it shows he is alive’.
Protasevich appears to be wearing makeup to conceal facial injuries, Mr Protasevich said, and is speaking unnaturally using words that he does not typically use.
‘It is very likely that his nose is broken, because the shape of it is changed and there’s much powder on the front of it, all of the left side of his face has powder, there’s some greasy stuff on the left side,’ Mr Protasevich said, adding that ‘it’s not his pack of cigarettes on the table – he doesn’t smoke these.’
‘I think he was forced. It’s not his words, it’s not his intonation of speech, he is acting very reserved and you can see he is nervous,’ he said.
Holidaying with his girlfriend in Greece, where his Ryanair flight left from Sunday on its way to Lithuania, his father said Roman ‘could not have predicted such an outcome’.
‘He was on a plane registered in an EU country… and flying from an EU country to an EU country,’ Mr Protasevich said. Mrs Protasevich is still in shock that Belarusian authorities would deploy a fighter jet to force the plane her son was on to land.
‘They sent a fighter jet to get this young man. It’s an act of terrorism, I don’t think you can call it anything else. He’s been taken hostage. This is an act of pure revenge,’ she said.
Her voice breaking, she added: ‘My son, this young man just wanted to tell the truth about the situation. He didn’t do anything wrong.’
EU leaders have taken action since the hijacking, with new sanctions on Belarus agreed – including cutting off air travel to or from the country.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen saying the EU had also frozen £2.6billion in investment destined for Belarus ‘until it becomes democratic.’
She added: ‘This is an attack on democracy. This is an attack on freedom of expression. And this is an attack on European sovereignty. And this outrageous behaviour needs a strong answer.’
Mr Protasevich welcomed the response by EU leaders, saying that it would ‘help radically change the situation’. ‘I think it will help free my son,’ he said.
Airlines including Air France, Finnair, the Netherlands’ KLM, Germany’s Lufthansa, Scandinavian carrier SAS, Poland’s Lot, and Singapore Airlines all appeared to be complying with the new rules on Tuesday – moves that could cost Belarus millions of pound in air traffic control fees, according to Russian broadcaster RBC.
Ukraine’s government also said all of its airlines would be avoiding the country’s airspace, while multiple European countries said they were working to ban the country’s state carrier Belavia from using their airports.
Meanwhile Latvia and Belarus expelled all diplomats and ambassadors from each other’s countries in tit-for-tat moves sparked when Latvian officials replaced the Belarusian flag at an ice hockey world championship in Riga with a flag used by the opposition, causing outrage.
Meanwhile US President Joe Biden on Monday called the forced diversion of the commercial passenger jet ‘a direct affront to international norms’ and condemned the action as an ‘outrageous incident.’ In his statement, he also expressed outrage over Protasevich’s video statement that aired on Belarusian state TV.
‘This outrageous incident and the video Mr Protasevich appears to have made under duress are shameful assaults on both political dissent and the freedom of the press,’ Biden said in a statement.
‘The United States joins countries around the world in calling for his release, as well as for the release of the hundreds of political prisoners who are being unjustly detained by the Lukashenko regime.’
Ms Tikhanovskaya on Tuesday welcomed the sanctions and called on world leader to go further – targeting members of the government and their business associates, in the hopes of toppling the regime so that free elections can be held.
‘I think many have already watched the video with imprisoned Roman,’ she told reporters in Lithuania. ‘He says that he is being treated lawfully, but he is clearly beaten and under pressure. There is no doubt that he may be tortured.
‘He was taken hostage – like 406 political prisoners and hundreds of people who have not yet been recognized as political prisoners but are behind bars. He was taken hostage, like 9 million Belarusians.
‘The whole world has understood that not only Belarusians are in danger. Many countries have given definitions to the actions of the regime – this is state-backed terrorism.
‘The suspension of flights over Belarus doesn’t solve the real problem. The problem is the terrorist regime that rigged elections last year, regularly violates the constitution, and breaks international law.
‘Lukashenko’s regime is a threat to regional and European security. The only solution to this crisis is to conduct free and fair elections and democratic reforms.’
The hijacking unfolded around 9.45am GMT on Sunday as Ryanair flight FR4978 was flying through Belarus airspace on its way from Athens to Vilnius, when a Belarus MiG-29 fighter jet intercepted it.
Belarus authorities claimed they had received a bomb threat from Hamas – the group which operates in Gaza – threatening to blow up the plane in the skies above Vilnius, and informed the pilot of the threat.
According to officials in Belarus, the pilot then made the decision to divert to Minsk rather than continue to Vilnius or divert to another airport.
But observers say this makes no sense, as Vilnius was by far the closest airport – theorising that the fighter jet may have threatened to shoot down the passenger plane. Belarus denies this.
Hamas has denied there was any bomb threat, and has no known ability to operate outside of Gaza and Israel. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has also poured scorn on the idea, calling it ‘completely implausible’.
Around half an hour later, the flight landed in Minsk where the passengers were taken off and had their baggage searched.
Witnesses say Mr Protasevich told them he was going to be arrested and faced ‘the death penalty’ before he was taken to a waiting SUV and sped away. Miss Sapega was also arrested.
He is now being held on extremism charges relating to mass protests following last year’s election – which is widely viewed as rigged – while she is being held on unknown charges, also relating to the protests.
Flight logs show three other passengers also disembarked in Minsk, amid claims these were Belarusian KGB agents sent to oversee the operation.
Initially it was thought that the agents could have been from the namesake Russian KGB, but Moscow has denied any involvement. The Kremlin says it is seeking consular access to Miss Sapega, who is a Russian citizen.
The trio who departed in Minsk have since appeared on Belarus state TV where they were presented as two Belarus nationals – Sergey Kulakov and Alexandra Stabredova – and a Greek man, Zisis Yason.
The group claimed they had been due to fly to Minsk anyway and had begged to be kept off the flight when it returned to the skies, around seven hours after it first touched down. They did not directly address claims about being undercover agents.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4 this morning, journalist and historian Anne Applebaum said that Lukashenko appeared to have ‘made a decision’ in advance of hijacking the flight that sanctions against his regime were worth it in order to arrest Protasevich.
‘He doesn’t mind being cut off from the rest of the world and he doesn’t mind being totally reliant on Russia,’ she said, adding that ‘[Russia] will now be his only ally, the only country that will buy goods from Belarus, the only country that will trade with him.
‘He has decided that remaining in power, the fate of his regime and probably his personal safety matters to him more than the rest of the country.’
But she added that sanctions are still an important tool that could pressure elites within Belarus to rebel and oust Lukashenko. ‘I think that’s what the Belarus opposition wants to have happen,’ she said.
That pressure did not appear to be evident on Tuesday, as Belarus media reported that seven activists had been sentenced to jail time for their political activities.
Separately, the White House said that national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Monday spoke Ms Tsikhanouskaya.
Sullivan told the opposition leader that the US ‘in coordination with the EU and other allies and partners, will hold the Lukashenka regime to account.’
Two US senators urged the Biden administration to prohibit U.S. airlines from entering Belarus airspace because of the incident. ‘We must protect innocent passengers from despotic regimes and stand in solidarity with dissidents who are being targeted,’ Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said in a joint statement.
Opposition journalist Roman Protasevich’s girlfriend Sofia Sapega who was also detained
Ryanair flight FR4978 had been flying from Athens in Greece to Vilnius in Lithuania when it was escorted by a Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jet to Belarus amid fake reports of an IED on board. It was forced to make an emergency landing at Minsk Airport, where authorities arrested dissident journalist Roman Protasevich
Aviation experts have claimed that Belarus threatened to shoot down the Athens to Vilnius Ryanair flight unless it did not land immediately (pictured: a MiG-29 fighter jet involved in the incident arriving back at base in Belarus). 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
Protasevich, an outspoken critic of Belarusian Lukashenko – dubbed ‘Europe’s last dictator’ – was wanted for his role in organising massive protests against him after rigged elections last year.
The Belarus Interior Ministry said Protasevich is being held in the capital Minsk and dismissed unconfirmed reports that he was hospitalised.
Earlier, Belarusian media reported that Protasevich’s mother received unconfirmed reports that her son was in hospital and in critical condition because of heart problems.
‘This information does not correspond with reality,’ the ministry said on its Telegram channel.
It added that ‘the arrested person is in custody’ and is being held in Detention Centre No1 in central Minsk.
‘The administration of the institution has not received any complaints about his health,’ the ministry said.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab raised the possibility of direct Russian involvement in the diversion of the civilian airliner, telling MPs: ‘It’s very difficult to believe that this kind of action could have been taken without at least the acquiescence of the authorities in Moscow.’
Yale University History Professor Timothy Snyder also added fuel to rumours of Russian participation in the plot, claiming in a tweet: ‘Belarus would not have hijacked an EU plane without Russian approval’.
But Russia threw its weight behind Belarus, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying that Lukashenko was taking an ‘absolutely reasonable approach’ to the detention of Protasevich.
Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also mocked the Western indignation at the alleged hijacking, writing on Facebook she was ‘shocked that the West calls the incident in Belarusian air space ‘shocking” and accusing Western nations of ‘kidnappings, forced landings, and illegal arrests’.
Lukashenko, an ally of Vladimir Putin, personally gave the ‘unequivocal order’ to ‘make the plane do a U-turn and land,’ according to a statement by Belarus’s presidential news service.
Tsikhanouskaya called for wider sanctions on the Lukashenko’s regime after Protasevich’s arrest, which she said was ‘the result of impunity’.
‘For nine months already we have been fighting against the regime after fraudulent elections, but the regime still feels impunity and you see they use such awful methods of kidnapping people,’ she said.
‘We have to put much more pressure on this regime for them to stop violence and to release political prisoners.’
She said she though it ‘unbelievable’ the regime had lasted long under these circumstances, especially because ‘the whole county is against the regime’.
‘The only question is, how many victims will there be during this fight for freedom and for democracy? I’m sure that these changes will come soon’, she added.
A fierce opponent of the Lukashenko regime, Protasevich had fled his home country in 2019 fearing he would be arrested by the strongman leader.
Working out of Warsaw, the young journalist worked for the Nexta Telegram channel which made its name publishing videos of mass demonstrations against Lukashenko’s regime surrounding the 2020 election which the president claimed to have won – though observers strongly believe was rigged.
Nexta played a key role in helping demonstrators organise and was subsequently deemed an ‘extremist’ organisation by the Belarus government. In November last year, Protasevich was added to a state list of ‘terrorists’ – a list he obtained and published.
Mr Protasevich subsequently left Nexta and founded his own Telegram channel – Belarus of the Brain – and moved to Lithuania, where Ms Tikhanovskaya is living in exile following last year’s vote.
Before his arrest on Sunday, he had flown to Greece to accompany the opposition politician to the Delphi Economic Forum and had stayed on for a few days afterwards with his girlfriend as a holiday.
Mr Protasevich had previously talked to friends about the risk of flying through Belarus airspace, but was apparently lulled into a false sense of security when Ms Tikhanovskaya flew from Athens to Lithuania several days before him without incident.
But on the day of his own flight, suspicions that things weren’t quite right began to appear at the check-in desk – as Mr Protasevich messaged friends to say that a man ‘speaking Russian’ had tried to photograph his travel documents.
‘It’s not certain,’ he texted a friend afterwards. ‘But in any case that’s some suspicious sh**.’
Nevertheless, he boarded the flight which took off at 9.29 local time, and flew most of its route as scheduled – including more than 100 miles through Belarus airspace.
But at 12.46 Belarus time, things suddenly changed. The plane made a sudden and sharp turn and began heading towards Minsk.
The captain announced to passengers shortly afterwards that the flight would be landing in the Belarus capital, without explaining why.
But witnesses say Protasevich was in no doubt. ‘They will arrest me,’ he is said to have told cabin crew, urging them to continue to Vilnius as scheduled – a request they reportedly refused.
The plane landed at Minsk around half an hour later, where Protasevich was separated from the other passengers and whisked away – telling them ‘a death sentence awaits me here’.
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary was among voices condemning what he called ‘state-sponsored piracy’ by Belarus, tying Russian into the operation.
‘I think it’s very frightening for the crew, for the passengers who were held under armed guard, had their bags searched,’ he told Newstalk.
‘It was clear it appears that the intent of the Russian authorities was to remove a journalist and his traveling companion. We believe there was also some KGB agents offloaded from the aircraft as well.’
Tory MP Tom Tugendhat this morning called it ‘a warlike act,’ joining the British, Irish and American governments in their condemnation. ‘This was a flight between two NATO members and between two EU members,’ the Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman told Radio 4. ‘If it’s not an act of war, it’s certainly a warlike act.’
Mr Raab, the British foreign secretary, vowed to hold Lukashenko accountable ‘for his outlandish actions’ with further sanctions and demanded the ‘immediate release of Protasevich.’
His Irish counterpart Simon Coveney was also withering, saying that Dublin – where Ryanair is headquartered – would not allow the ‘state-sponsored piracy’ to go unpunished.
‘We cannot allow this incident to pass on the basis of warnings or strong press releases,’ Coveney told RTE. ‘I think there has to be real edge to the sanctions that are applied on the back of this. This was effectively aviation piracy, state-sponsored.’
Moscow defended its ally, with foreign minister Sergei Lavrov calling Lukashenko’s action an ‘absolutely reasonable approach.’
‘A representative of the Belarusian foreign ministry… stressed the readiness of the Belarusian authorities to act on the issue in a transparent manner and to follow all international rules,’ Lavrov said during a press conference following a meeting with his Greek counterpart.
‘I think this is an absolutely reasonable approach.’
He called on the global community to ‘soberly assess the situation’.
Earlier Monday, authorities in Belarus insisted they had acted legally when they diverted the flight. They instead accused the West of making unfounded claims for political reasons.
Several European airlines including AirBaltic, Air Austria and Wizz Air were avoiding Belarusian air space as EU leaders met in Brussels ton discuss furthers sanctions against Lukashenko.
AirBaltic said it was monitoring the situation and would avoid Belarus airspace until it ‘becomes clearer’. It added: ‘the safety and health of our passengers and employees in the main priority’.
The Foreign Affairs Committee has called for a complete flight ban on Belarusian airspace. MP Tugendhat said he wanted to see a flight ban ‘to protect our citizens from any potential repeat of this event’.
Tugendhat explained he was calling for a ban on all flights going into, or out of, Belarus, until Sunday’s hijacking was resolved.
He added a call for ‘immediate sanctions on the Lukashenko regime’, including on the Yamal-Europe oil pipeline.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said further sanctions were being considered against the Lukashenko administration and Belarus’ ambassador in London had been summoned for a dressing down.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he had instructed the Civil Aviation Authority to request airlines avoid Belarusian airspace ‘in order to keep passengers safe’.
He also suspended the operating permit for Belavia, the country’s state-owned airline.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a press conference at the EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Protasevich’s video ‘confession’ is ‘deeply disturbing’ while warning that ‘actions will have consequences’
A Lithuanian passenger on board the plane, who gave his name as Mantas, told how Protasevich jumped from his seat as the captain announced the plane was being diverted.
‘Roman stood up, opened the luggage compartment, took luggage and was trying to split things,’ he said.
‘I think he made a mistake. There were plenty of people so he could give the things to me or other passengers and not the girlfriend, who was also I think arrested.’
Mantas was speaking to Reuters after a day-long ordeal that began in Athens and finally ended late in the evening in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, after a stopover of more than seven hours in Minsk.
Another exhausted passenger, speaking to reporters without giving her name, said Protasevich looked ‘super scared’.
‘I looked directly into his eyes and he was very sad,’ she said. Protasevich was immediately separated on arrival in Minsk and checks of luggage using sniffer dogs turned up nothing.
‘We saw that Roman was stopped due to some things in the luggage,’ Mantas said, adding that the other passengers also had their luggage checked and were taken by bus to the terminal where they spent several hours waiting to reboard the plane.
‘We saw from the window that Roman is standing alone, and one policeman with dog was trying to find something (in his luggage).’
Another passenger, who also did not give his name, told Lithuanian media that Protasevich had identified himself to Belarusian security officials on arrival. ‘I saw how his passport was taken away. He took off his mask and said: ‘I’m so-and-so and I’m the reason why all this is going on.”
Aviation experts revealed that the passenger plane had been significantly closer to Vilnius than it was to Minsk when it was forced to turn around, making a mockery of the Belarusian claims that it needed to make an emergency landing for a bomb threat.
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.’
Ryanair did not deny the claims this morning, telling MailOnline: ‘Ryanair condemns the unlawful actions of Belarusian authorities who diverted Ryanair’s flight FR4978 to Minsk yesterday (23 May), which was an act of aviation piracy.
‘This is now being dealt with by EU safety and security agencies & NATO. Ryanair is fully cooperating with them and we cannot comment further for security reasons.’
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.
Moscow-based aviation expert Vadim Lukashevich said he too believed that a threat to shoot down the Ryanair flight had been made.
He said: ‘To make it crystal clear – the pilots of the Ryanair plane that was forced to land in Belarus were pulling towards the 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 45 miles away and only 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 – before 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.’
Meanwhile, a leading Russian investigative journalist Roman Dobrokhotov revealed that as well as Protasevich’s girlfriend 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.
Sapega 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.’
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.’
Mr Raab said in a statement on Monday: ‘The UK condemns yesterday’s actions by the Belarusian authorities, who arrested journalist Roman Protasevich on the basis of a ruse, having forced his flight to land in Minsk. Mr Lukashenko must be held to account for his outlandish actions.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, leader of the Belarusian opposition who was with Mr Protasevich just days before his arrest, spoke to journalists in Lithuania today – where she lives in exile – and called for his immediate release
‘The UK calls for the immediate release of Mr Protasevich and other political prisoners held in Belarus. The UK is working with our allies on a coordinated response, including further sanctions. The UK also calls for the ICAO Council to meet urgently to consider the regime’s flouting of the international rules safeguarding civil aviation.’
The 27 EU leaders open a two-day summit later Monday and the issue immediately shot to the top the agenda amid united condemnation of Lukashenko.
‘The outrageous and illegal behaviour of the regime in Belarus will have consequences,’ EU chief Ursula von der Leyen tweeted. ‘Those responsible for the Ryanair hijacking must be sanctioned.’
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called it ‘yet another blatant attempt by the Belarusian authorities to silence all opposition voices.’ He called the diversion of the plane an ‘inadmissible step’ highlighting a further worsening in relations between both sides.
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry on Monday bristled at what it described as ‘belligerent’ EU statements, insisting that the country’s authorities acted ‘in full conformity with international rules.’
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the incident ‘shocking’ and accused the Belarusian government of endangering the lives of those aboard the aircraft, including some Americans. He called for the release of Protasevich and for the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization to review the incident.
‘I saw this Belarusian guy with girlfriend sitting right behind us. He freaked out when the pilot said the plane is diverted to Minsk. He said there’s death penalty awaiting him there,’ passenger Marius Rutkauskas said after the plane finally arrived in Vilnius.
‘We sat for an hour after the landing. Then they started releasing passengers and took those two. We did not see them again.’
Protasevich was a co-founder of the Telegram messaging app’s Nexta channel, which played a prominent role in helping organise major protests against Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko.
The Belarusian authorities have designated it as extremist and levered charges of inciting riots against Protasevich, who could face 15 years in prison if convicted.
Months of protests in Belarus were fueled by Lukashenko’s election to a sixth presidential term in an August vote that the opposition denounced as rigged.
More than 34,000 people have been arrested in Belarus since August, and thousands were brutally beaten.
Abducted Belarus journalist’s girlfriend ‘may be tortured to put pressure on him’ it’s feared after he appeared ‘with broken nose and missing teeth’: Transcript of fake bomb alert to Ryanair pilot is revealed
By Will Stewart in Moscow, Chris Pleasance and Ross Ibbetson for MailOnline
Abducted journalist Roman Protesevich’s girlfriend could be tortured as a way to get to him, her parents fear, after she was arrested in Belarus and sent to a notorious jail for political prisoners.
Andrey Sapega and his ex-wife Anna Dudich spoke out today, 72 hours after 23-year-old daughter Sofia Sapega was bundled off a Ryanair plane in Minsk when Belarusian authorities diverted it there using a fake bomb threat.
Mr Sapega, 53, said he is ‘very, very concerned for Sofia’ after learning that she had been sent to the notorious Okrestina Street detention centre, where prisoners have reported being electrocuted, viciously beaten, and made to adopt stress positions for hours at a time.
Sofia was tonight jailed for two months on suspicion of committing an unspecified criminal offence, according to her lawyer Alexander Filanovich. She will serve the entirety at the notorious Okrestina Street jail.
‘However strong she is, the guys now dealing with the destiny of my daughter, they can break anyone,’ Mr Sapega said from his home in Russia’s Vladivostok. ‘Why do the Belorussian authorities need her now?
‘As a way of putting pressure on Roman? I don’t know, but it’s quite likely.’
Anna added: ‘I fear for Sofia, what will happen to her. My main fear [is] of false accusations and my child being jailed.’ Asked whether she thought Sofia is being held to pressure Roman, she said: ‘I share this idea but she is an ordinary fifth year student. She is not into any political activity.
‘I know everything about her life. She is not into any political activities and she dreams to carry on her diploma.’
The pair spoke out as Belarus published what it claimed was a transcript of its air traffic controller warning a confused Ryanair pilot of a bomb on board, before he makes the call to divert the plane to Minsk.
The script, which has not been independently verified, appears to confirm that Belarus had issued the bomb threat directly, but makes no mention of a fighter plane sent to escort the passenger jet.
On arrival in Minsk, Roman and Sofia were separated from the other passengers before being put into an SUV by government officials and driven away. Nothing has been heard from Sofia since.
Roman has appeared on camera in which he claims he is being treated well and is confessing to his crimes. Father Dzmitry said his son appears to have a broken nose, missing teeth, and is speaking under duress.
Anna Dudich (left) and Andrey Sapega (right), the parents of law student Sofia Sapega who was arrested alongside her Belarusian boyfriend Roman Protasevich at the weekend, have spoken of their fears for their daughter
Both Andrey and Anna, who are now separated, say they worry that Sofia (pictured) will be tortured in order to put pressure on her boyfriend and worry that she might be jailed on false charges
The couple (pictured together left) were returning to Lithuania from a holiday in Greece on Sunday when the plane they were on was diverted by authorities in Belarus because of a fake bomb threat, before the couple were separated from the other passengers (right) and bundled into a waiting car
It comes as a leading ally of Vladimir Putin has called for detained Belarus activist Roman Protasevich to be ‘shot like a dog’.
Amid claims the opposition journalist has been tortured, tycoon Yevgeny Prigozhin said he respected Europe’s ‘last dictator’ Alexander Lukashenko for deploying a MiG-29 to force a Ryanair jet to land so the 26-year-old could be arrested.
Prigozhin , 59, nicknamed Putin’s Chef, is a catering magnate who rose to fame running Kremlin banquets and is now behind a notorious private army of mercenaries fighting in Africa.
‘Glory, glory to Lukashenko,’ he said of the dictator who has crushed dissent in his country, using his KGB secret services to rig last year’s presidential election, say Western observers.
‘I respect, bow and support (him) with all my heart.
‘A great man who stopped the scum, and didn’t let them p*** into his face.’
Prigozhin said: ‘One more law needs to be urgently added to all the Belorussian laws – to shoot Protasevich like a dog. Respect one more time, Aleksander Grigoryevich (Lukashenko).’
Roman and Sofia had been dating for around six months after meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, where he is working as a journalist in exile and she is studying international law.
They were returning from Greece – where they accompanied opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya to a conference before staying for a holiday – to Lithuania when their plane was hijacked.
Both Andrey and Anna say they were aware that their daughter was dating Roman after she revealed his identity to them, saying that she had not told many of her friends.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, pictured right with Vladimir Putin, said: ‘One more law needs to be urgently added to all the Belorussian laws – to shoot Protasevich like a dog’
They say the relationship was tempestuous, and the couple had broken up once around New Year before getting back together. Both say they warned her about the dangers of dating a wanted political activist, but she insisted that she was ‘in love’.
‘She often told me – ”Mum, I’m always attracted to smart men.” Roman is a wise guy. Sofia likes his brain, she told me: ”Mum he is super smart.” She is in love with him.’
Andrey added: ‘She spoke about Roman as about a very smart, intelligent, thoughtful young man, with a modern outlook and an active position in life.
‘He was looking after her, she said, but I guess these were the two strong characters who were clashing from time to time. So for me it was worrying to watch this…
‘Her mother also said that choosing Roman meant that Sofia would not have a quiet life. It would always be like on top of a volcano.
‘We were saying it as parents who are concerned for their children. Sadly our worries turned out to be true.’
Anna also revealed that she has written to President Putin asking him to secure her daughter’s release, and today Russia’s foreign ministry confirmed diplomats have been in touch with her parents.
Sofia is currently in jail in Minsk, the government confirmed, adding that they have not yet been able to speak with her but hope to be given access ‘very shortly’.
While the exact charges against her are not clear, she is being held on suspicion of being involved in mass protests against President Alexander Lukashenko in August last year. Belarus views the protests as riots.