15 Sep 2026
The Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius made an emergency landing at Minsk’s airport on Sunday after a reported bomb threat. The plane landed safely. No bomb was found inside. A criminal case was opened in Beelarus.
Meanwhile, Lina Beisiene, a spokeswoman for Lietuvos oro uostai the operator of Lithuanian airports, said on Sunday that Lithuania’s aviation authorities had no information about any bombs onboard the plane. She said that the plane had made an emergency landing because of a conflict between a passenger and a crewmember. However, she disclosed no details.
Ryanair spokesperson told TASS later that the flight’s crew was instructed by the Belarusian air traffic controllers to divert its flight from Athens to Vilnius in Minsk. "The crew on a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius today (23 May) were notified by Belarus ATC of a potential security threat on board and were instructed to divert to the nearest airport, Minsk," the spokesperson said, adding that "nothing untoward was found."
Late on Sunday, the flight finally reached its destination in Vilnius. There were some 170 passengers from 12 counties, including 90 Lithuanian nationals, onboard the plane.
Roman Protasevich, a co-founder of the Nexta Telegram channel, which had been recognized as extremist in Belarus, was among the passengers. Protasevich, currently living in Lithuania, is wanted in Belarus. The man was detained after the plane’s landing in Minsk.
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