Russia bars European planes from landing in Moscow

Russian aviation officials forced Austrian Airlines and Air France to cancel their flights to Moscow Thursday in retaliation over the two airlines changing their route to bypass Belarus. On Sunday, Belarus authorities diverted a Ryanair plane flying between Greece and Lithuania to arrest journalist Raman Pratasevich and his Russian girlfriend, Sofia Sapega. The European Union recommended European airlines avoid Belarus airspace and for EU airports to bar flights from Belarusian airlines.

Any new information about Sunday’s plane diversion? While Belarus’s strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko claimed they directed the flight to land in Minsk due to an emailed bomb threat, Swiss email provider Protonmail said the email in question was sent after the plane had already been diverted. The United Nation’s International Civil Aviation Organization will investigate the incident and file an interim report by June 25. Meanwhile, in a show of Russian support, Lukashenko will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Russia, on Friday.

Dig Deeper: Read Kyle Ziemnick’s report in The Stew on anti-Lukashenko protests in Belarus in 2020.