The US Department of Transportation has completed work on a decree banning the sale of air tickets to Belarus, TASS reports.

The decision was made after the incident with the Ryanair aircraft on May 23, 2020.

"Immediately and until the next decree, the ministry bans the sale of passenger air travel between the United States and Belarus, including those performed by various companies," the document reads.

At the same time, the decree stipulates a number of situations when flights between countries are possible.

These are exceptional cases - flights "in the national interest of the United States, including for humanitarian reasons or for reasons of national security."

The incident with the Ryanair plane, the detention of blogger Protasevich and the reaction in the world.

Briefly

  • On May 23, after about 2 pm Belarusian time, the press service of Minsk airport announced the urgent landing of a Ryanair plane en route from Athens to Vilnius.

  • According to FlightRadar, the plane flew over almost the entire territory of the western part of Belarus and turned towards Minsk near the border with Lithuania.

  • According to the press service of the airport, the pilots reported the passage.

    The plane landed successfully.

    The Investigative Committee of Belarus has opened a criminal case for knowingly false information about the danger.

  • The operator of Lithuania's international airports said that the plane made an emergency landing due to a conflict between a passenger and a crew member.

  • Ryanair later stated that it had received an order to land a liner in Minsk from Belarusian dispatchers.

    The press service of the National Airport of Minsk confirmed that Belaeronavigatsiya reported about the threat on board the Ryanair crew.

  • At the order of

    Alexander Lukashenko, a

    MiG-29 military fighter was lifted into the sky to escort the plane.

    Later, the chief adviser to the Lithuanian president on foreign policy said that the Belarusian authorities had also lifted a Mi-24 helicopter.

  • Minsk passengers reported that there were 123 passengers on board.

    Later it became known that there were several more passengers who stayed in Belarus after the emergency landing and did not fly further to Vilnius.

  • Among the passengers of the plane was a blogger, author of the telegram channel "Belarus of the Brain" and former editor-in-chief of Nexta channels

    Roman Protasevich

    , who was included in the "list of terrorists" by the Belarusian authorities for "organizing riots."

  • Protasevich, who wrote about the alleged surveillance of him at the Athens airport, was detained in Minsk.

  • The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry summoned the Chargé d'Affaires of Belarus in Lithuania.

    The President of Lithuania

    Gitanas Nauseda

    stated that the plane was forced to land in Minsk.

  • The actions of the Belarusian authorities were condemned by many European leaders and threatened with serious consequences.

  • After more than 7 hours of waiting at about 20:17 the plane took off from Minsk to Vilnius and landed in Vilnius at about 21:30.

  • Together with Protasevich, his girlfriend, a Russian citizen, was detained in Minsk.

  • May 24 EU summit demands new economic sanctions against Belarusian authorities and flight ban

  • In the evening of May 24, state TV channels in Belarus showed Raman Protasevich, who spoke about his guilt in organizing mass rallies in Minsk.

    Relatives and friends of the journalist immediately noticed the bruises on his face and unusual intonation, which may indicate possible long-term torture.

  • A number of states and airlines banned flights to Belarus and Belarusian airspace after the capture of Raman Protasevich.

    They claim that such measures are taken for the safety of their own citizens.

  • On May 28, Protasevich was placed in the KGB jail.

    There is also the girlfriend of journalist

    Sofia Sapieha

    , who is accused of "inciting hatred."

    The lawyer managed to get to Raman only on the fifth day.

    A non-disclosure agreement was taken from her.

  • Also on May 28, NATO Secretary General

    Jens Stoltenberg

    announced Moscow's possible involvement in the hijacking.

    On May 31, the North Atlantic Alliance restricted access to its headquarters in Brussels to 5 accredited Belarusian diplomats.

  • The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has announced the launch of its own investigation into the incident.

  • On May 29, the United States suspended an air service agreement with Belarus and announced new sanctions against Lukashenko and his entourage.

  • The Proton postal service refuted the version put forward by official Minsk about letters with information about false mining, which were allegedly sent from Swiss servers to several airports.

    The letter was only one.

    Earlier, the Palestinian bloc Hamas denied its involvement in the threat of an explosion, and the media found out that the threatening letter came only 24 minutes after the warning of the dispatcher.

  • After a number of bans, the number of Belavia flights dropped by 80.5% in a week.

    The state-owned monopoly in the air transportation market is trying to take a sharp shortage of new flights to Russia.

  • On June 4, the European Union banned flights in EU airspace and access to EU airports for all Belarusian airlines.

  • In early June, the state TV channel ONT showed Roman Protasevich in the program of the head of the channel

    Marat Markov

    , called "Markov.

    Nothing personal. "

    Radio Svaboda does not publish excerpts from this interview, as it is unknown under what circumstances the conversation was recorded and whether Protasevich could refuse to answer the questions asked.

    Experts talk about the high level of stress of the blogger, fear and possible pressure, and colleagues and relatives believe that the "interview" was recorded under torture or the threat of torture.

  • On June 8, after 11 days of absence, lawyer

    Inessa Alenskaya was

    allowed to see Protasevich

    .

    He was under investigation, during which he was not even allowed to go to the toilet for 7 hours.

    Roman was imprisoned for tonsillitis.

  • On June 14, Protasevich was brought to a meeting of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry with journalists.

    Many journalists stated that they did not believe because Protasevich spoke his words voluntarily.

    BBC journalist John Fisher left the hall, writing that the detainee would obviously speak under duress, and BelaPAN journalist Tatsiana Karaviankova stated that she did not believe any of what was said, and expressed condolences to the prisoner.

  • On June 15, the director of Ryanair told how the Belarusian authorities put pressure on the captain of the plane and the crew.

  • On June 16, Russian media reported that the General Prosecutor's Office of the Luhansk People's Republic thanked Lukashenko for the possibility of conducting an investigation with Raman Protasiewicz. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine demanded that the Belarusian authorities comment on the information about the visit of the so-called “prosecutor's office” of the self-proclaimed republic to Minsk.

  • On June 25, Raman Protasevich and Sofia Sapieha were placed under house arrest.