Lukashenko Claims Roman Protasevich Worked for Belarusian Intelligence

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has announced that Roman Protasevich, the former editor of the Nexta Telegram channel, was an employee of the country’s intelligence services. This was reported by the state BELTA news agency.

“Protasevich was one of our intelligence staff. Did we need to arrest him?” Lukashenko noted, referring to the incident involving a Ryanair plane in May 2021.

At that time, the aircraft, which was on a flight from Athens to Vilnius, was forced to land in Minsk due to a reported bomb threat. Among the passengers were Protasevich and his girlfriend, Russian citizen Sofia Sapega, who were removed from the plane. The incident led to European Union sanctions, which banned European airlines from flying through Belarusian airspace, while Belarusian carriers were prohibited from entering EU countries.

Lukashenko added that Protasevich was in Greece before his arrest and was carrying out an intelligence assignment. “He had been called there, he reported, received his assignment, and was returning through Vilnius. We were accused of arresting an opposition figure, but he wasn’t even our opposition,” the Belarusian leader said.