Belarus Stages What It Sees as Major Security Operations Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 18 Issue: 82 Arrest of Roman Protasevich, Minsk, May 23 (Source: AP) On Sunday, May 23, Belarus made headlines around the world for diverting a commercial flight. Ryanair’s Boeing 737-8AS, in transit over Belarus from Athens to Vilnius, had to make an emergency landing in Minsk under the pretext of a bomb planted on board, the alarm raised by Belarusian air traffic controllers. Flight tracker sites indicated the plane was about six miles from the Lithuanian border, north of the Belarusian city of Lida, when it was urged to make a sharp turn with the help of a MiG-29 fighter. The whole incident was concocted with the sole purpose of arresting Roman Protasevich, a 26-year-old Belarusian journalist. Residing in Poland since 2019, he received political asylum there in 2020; Protasevich’s previous work experience includes reporting for