Russia says it is shocked by Western outrage over the incident in Belarus on Sunday involving a Ryanair passenger plane with an opposition activist on board.
“We are shocked that the West is calling the incident in Belarusian airspace ‘shocking’,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakarova said on Facebook. She, in turn, accuses Western nations of “kidnappings, forced landings and illegal arrests”.
For example, she cited the forced landing in Austria in 2012 of a plane with the then Bolivian President Evo Morales on board.
The Belarusian authorities forced a Ryanair plane to land on Sunday after what turned out to be a false bomb threat.
They then arrested Belarusian opposition member and journalist Roman Protasevich, who was on board. The action was condemned by European countries, the United States and NATO.