Forced landing of Ryanair flight in Minsk

NEXTA founder/editor Roman Protasevich was arrested in Belarus after Ryanair plane Athens-Vilnius landed in Minsk after the captain somehow became aware of a fake bomb threat issued in the name of Hamas. (RFE/RL version here). This seem to follow footsteps of Ukraine forcing return of Belavia plane on Oct. 22, 2016, to detain anti-Maidan blogger, citizen of Armenia (later released). It is also suggested (see eg here) that Russian PMC arrests in Belarus were originally planned in the form of forcing their flight from Minsk to land in Ukraine (this version was reported by Butusov of tsensor.net).

Roman Protasevich

 * Roman Protasevich - FOIA Research, August 17, 2020, updated: May 24, 2021
 * The NEXTA administrator fought in the Donbass in the ranks of the Azov Battalion in 2014 - NewsFront, September 20, 2021
 * Waiting for Protasevich's testimony- Colonel Cassad, May 24, 2021

Bomb threat

 * Ryanair’s statement - Ryanair Press Office on Twitter, May 23, 2021
 * Fighter jet scrambled to escort Ryanair plane - Belarusian defense ministry - TASS, May 23, 2021
 * Belarus points to Hamas bomb threat in plane diversion, Hamas rejects claim - Reuters, May 24, 2021 (archive)
 * A recording of negotiations with the plane on which the detained founder of NEXTA Protasevich was flying - RBK, May 24, 2021

Sanctions?

 * Belarus faces sanctions backlash over jetliner ‘state piracy’ - Reuters, May 24, 2021

Analysis

 * May 24, 2021 Lukashenko's Revenge (Served Cold) - Moon of Alabama, May 24, 2021
 * As Anger Toward Belarus Mounts, Recall the 2013 Forced Landing of Bolivia's Plane to Find Snowden - Glenn Greenwald, May 24, 2021