A fake Ryanair hijack – and the fear that has stalked Belarus’s people ever since

Poles and Belarusians protest in Warsaw in 2021 against the detention of opposition Belarusian activist Raman Pratasevich, who was on the Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius that was diverted to Minsk. Photograph: Wojtek Radwański/AFP/Getty Images

For a few days in May 2021, the perilous reality of being a dissenting voice in Belarus was laid bare when pilots on board Ryanair flight FR4978 bound for Vilnius in Lithuania were forced to make an emergency landing in Minsk after entering Belarusian airspace.

The pilots had been told by Belarusian air traffic control that the plane had a bomb on board. When one of them announced to passengers that the plane was being diverted to Minsk, a young male passenger leapt to his feet. He shouted that if the plane landed he would be seized by the authorities. “I am wanted there, they’ll kill me,” he screamed.