REUTERS

The Embassy of the Republic of Belarus has sent a note of protest to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine over the decision to terminate air traffic.

This was reported on the Belarusian embassy's website.

"This note says that the Belarusian side was surprised at the Ukrainian side's decision to terminate air traffic between Ukraine and the Republic of Belarus over an aircraft incident that has nothing to do with Ukraine," it said.

Read alsoUkraine to halt air traffic with Belarus from midnight on May 26

Previous developments

  • Ukraine is to halt air traffic with Belarus from 00:00 Kyiv time on May 26, 2021. What is more, Ukrainian airlines and aircraft will not be allowed to fly in Belarusian airspace.
  • On May 23, 2021, Belarus scrambled a MiG-29 fighter jet to forcedly land a Ryanair plane in Minsk. The plane was heading from Athens, Greece, to Vilnius, Lithuania. Co-founder of Telegram's opposition channel NEXTA, Roman Protasevich, was on board the plane.
  • The plane was diverted to Minsk at the command of Belarusian air traffic controllers over a possible bomb threat, despite the fact that the distance to Vilnius was much shorter. After the plane landed, Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend were detained. Protasevich faces the death penalty in Belarus.
  • The circumstances of the forced landing of the Ryanair airline in Minsk will be investigated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).