The scandal around is gaining momentum yesterday’s incident, when, at the request of Ukraine, a Belarusian passenger plane that had flown to Minsk was returned to Kiev under the threat of sending fighter jets into the sky.
As it turned out, the reason for the return of the Belavia plane was the journalist Armen Martirosyan, who was known for his pro-Russian position, who was on board. He used to live and work in Kyiv, but after the victory of Euromaidan he moved to Moscow.
After the return of the Belarusian airliner, Martirosyan was searched by SBU officers, although before that his belongings were also inspected during control before departure. Having again found nothing prohibited, Martirosyan was released. After which he took another flight to Minsk, and from there to the Russian Federation. The journalist stated that more he will give detailed comments after consultations with lawyers.
SBU press secretary Elena Gitlyanskaya explained the incident as follows:
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“The SBU received information about a foreign citizen and a possible threat to the national security of the state.
At the time of receiving the information, the foreigner was already on board Belavia Airlines, which was preparing to fly to Minsk. We immediately informed the State Enterprise “Ukraerorukh” about this.
By the time the dispatcher contacted the pilot, the plane had already been in the air for several minutes. After verification activities, we were convinced that the threat to national security had been localized. The SBU has acted and will act within its competence to ensure the security of the country and its citizens.
From myself personally. Is it really possible to take seriously the information that fighter jets could have been flown into the sky against a civilian airliner?” – Gitlyanskaya wrote on Facebook.
Official Minsk seems to have a different opinion.
Today, the Charge d'Affaires of Ukraine in the Republic of Belarus, Valery Dzhigun, was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus.
“During the meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the head of the Ukrainian diplomatic mission was handed a note in which the Belarusian side protested in connection with the actions of the competent authorities of Ukraine to forcibly return the Belarusian aircraft of the Belavia airline, which made a regular flight B21 2016 on October 2, 840 on the route “ Kyiv-Minsk".
As emphasized in the note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Belarusian side expects an official apology and demands compensation for all financial costs and expenses caused by the actions of the Ukrainian side.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also instructed the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to Ukraine Igor Sokol to present a similar note of protest to the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.