From a bizarre hijacking over Belarus to strategic bombers off Belmullet

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not stand idly by and watch a democratic regime in Belarus join with NATO and the EU. Expect more Russian strategic bomber flights cruising South past Belmullet before the year is out, writes defence analyst Colonel Dorcha Lee (Retd)

The forced diversion of a plane to Belarus in order to arrest Belarus journalist Roman Protasevich has been denounced as piracy, a hijacking and terrorism. Picture: Euroradio via AP

It’s not often that the diversion of a Ryanair flight gets worldwide attention. However, Ryanair Flight FR 4978 from Athens, to Vilnius, on Sunday last (23 May) became the first ever openly state-sponsored hijacking in history. 

Forced to land at Minsk, in Belarus, it resumed its journey to the Lithuanian capital, minus a prominent Belarusian opposition journalist, his girlfriend and three security agents, who remained in Minsk.