#Belarus The Ryanair plane from Athens was about to board in Vilnius but it has changed the route and flew to #Minsk. It looks very suspicious. If this was the demand of the Belarusian regime to land in Minsk, then it should draw the attention of the international community
#Belarus Special equipment arrived at the Minsk airport. According to unofficial information, there were reports of a bomb on board. I recommend following this closely.
Sappers are now working at the National Airport. Passengers are being re-screened.
We can now confirm that blogger and former editor of the Telegram channel @nexta_tv Roman Protasevich might have been detained in Minsk. He was on the plane that had to land in Minsk. Roman was added to the list of terrorists by the KGB. #Lukashenko's regime hijacked the plane
#Lukashenko behaves like a mafia boss and terrorist & has to be treated accordingly.Most probably his agents reported a bomb on a plane and forced the plane to land in #Minsk.Terrorism could qualify for the death penalty in #Belarus. The country's airspace isn't safe for anyone
#Lukashenko personally gave the command to receive the Ryanair plane in #Minsk,reports the Telegram channel close to his spokesperson.@ICAO should investigate this case, and sanctions should be imposed on the regime. A week ago,Tsikhanouskaya was flying from Greece to Vilnius,too
I want you to pay attention to this. The same Telegram channel reports that the MiG-29 fighter was raised to accompany the Ryanair plane.This was clearly a special operation ordered by #Lukashenko to arrest the journalist and blogger. I hope @Ryanair could reveal more information
Insights from #Minsk: ambulance and emergency cars arrived immediately - apparently on the personal order of the ministry. They did not arrive at the airport signal. This is no longer merely an internal struggle with the opposition. #Lukashenko is a threat to security in Europe
*was about to LAND, obviously
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What do all these military drills in #Belaris and #Russia mean? Here's your backgrounder 🔽
#Zapad2025 is a large-scale joint military exercise happening Sept 12-16, 2025, the first big drills since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Unlike earlier Zapad exercises, there is a pronounced focus on nuclear escalation and offensive scenarios, including simulating an attack corridor through Poland and Lithuania - a clear shift from defensive posturing.
Belarusian dictator Lukashenka calls the drills de-escalatory but simultaneously announces the planning of the use of Russian nuclear assets and Oreshnik, showing his limited independence yet an attempt to calm the West.
In #Belarus, opposition leader Mikalai Statkevich has disappeared. After being released with other political prisoners, he refused deportation. Witnesses say masked men removed him at the border. His fate is unknown. His freedom, and possibly his life, is at stake. Who is he? ⬇️
At 69, he is not only a politician but one of the most prominent moral figures of the Belarusian democratic movement. A former army officer and military engineer, he has already spent nearly ten years of his life in prison for opposing Lukashenka's rule.
Born in a family of teachers in the Slutsk district, Statkevich attended the Minsk Higher Military Engineering School and later served in the Soviet army. He rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel, earned a candidate dissertation, and published over 60 scientific works.
From September 12-16, #Belarus and #Russia are holding the Zapad-2025 joint strategic military exercise, touted officially as a defensive drill testing readiness of the Union State forces. But beneath the rhetoric is a deeper story about power, signaling, and regional tension.
Belarus is a key actor in Russia's war economy. Over 500 Belarusian enterprises feed into Russia's state defense order, including many "front" firms circumventing sanctions. Several civilian plants have been repurposed to support military production, financed largely by Moscow.
Militarily, these drills are more than routine. Belarusian defense minister Khrenin confirmed rehearsals of nuclear-use planning and the deployment of the "Oreshnik" system, with indications that Belarusian MLRS "Polonez" could be equipped with nuclear warheads.
Sergei Lavrov claims #Russia must "protect Russian-speaking people" in #Ukraine. It sounds deceptively logical to those unfamiliar with the region. As someone whose first language is Russian, here’s the full truth: language does NOT define nationality or justify aggression.
Speaking Russian does not equate to being Russian. Language is a tool of communication and cultural choice - not a chain of ownership.
By the way, that's why today I speak Belarusian on a daily basis.
Lavrov tries to weaponize language, claiming all Russian speakers must belong to Russia. By that twisted logic, Spain could claim the whole Spanish-speaking world. This is not about protecting people - it’s about denying sovereignty and rewriting national identities by force.
One of #Belarus’s most notorious prison officers - accused by former inmates of sadism and torture - has quietly resettled in #Germany under the name Dimitri Schönwiese.
Dmitry “Rudolf” Shynvize ran the operations unit of Babruisk Penal Colony Nr 2 - a place housing at least 50 political prisoners. Victims say he relished cruelty, handing out arbitrary punishments and humiliations.
Ex-prisoners recall being strangled with scarves, mocked for being orphans, beaten for trivial “offences” like an undone button, or thrown into isolation cells on fabricated charges.
On this day in 1995, #Belarus held a pivotal referendum that would shape the country’s future. Here’s what happened and why it still matters: 🧵
On May 14, 1995, Belarusians voted in a four-question referendum alongside parliamentary elections. The issues: 1. Should Russian have equal status with Belarusian? 2. Should new national symbols be adopted? 3. Should Belarus pursue economic integration with Russia? 4. Should the president have the power to dissolve parliament for constitutional violations?
According to official results, all four proposals passed with over 75% support and a turnout of nearly 65%. This led to Russian becoming a state language, Soviet-style symbols replacing the historic white-red-white flag and Pahonia coat of arms, and deeper integration with #Russia.