Having hijacked a Ryanair plane, Belarus draws closer to Russia

BELARUSIAN DISSIDENTSEUMG expect to be arrested in Belarus. But until May 23rd they thought they were safe in the West. That was when Roman Protasevich, a 26-year-old Belarusian journalist and activist, boarded a Ryanair jet that was due to fly from one country (Greece) to another (Lithuania). To his horror and the world’s astonishment, Belarus’s autocratic government hijacked it.The plane was passing through Belarusian airspace and about to cross into Lithuania, where Mr Protasevich had been living in exile. Suddenly, the pilots were told there was a bomb on board. A i-29 fighter jet was scrambled to intercept the plane and escort it to Minsk, Belarus’s capital, though this was not the nearest airport. On arrival Mr Protasevich was arrested, along with his Russian girlfriend, Sofia Sapega.