Belarus opposition figure detained when flight diverted

A founder of a messaging app channel that has been a key information conduit for opponents of Belarus' authoritarian president has been arrested after an airliner in which he was traveling on was diverted to Belarus because of a bomb threat

KYIV, Ukraine -- A prominent opponent of Belarus' authoritarian president was arrested Sunday after the airliner in which he was traveling was diverted to the country after a bomb threat, in what the opposition is calling a hijacking operation by the government. The presidential press service said President Alexander Lukashenko personally ordered that a MiG-29 fighter jet accompany the Ryanair plane — traveling from Athens, Greece, to Vilnius, Lithuania — to the airport in the capital Minsk. Deputy air force commander Andrei Gurtsevich said the plane's crew made the decision to land in Minsk, but Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda claimed the plane was forced to land there. Belarus' “regime is behind this,” Nauseda said on Twitter.