Belarus prez ups ante against West

MOSCOW: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Wednesday a journalist pulled off a plane that landed in Minsk had been plotting a bloody rebellion, and accused the West of waging a hybrid war against him.

In his defiant remarks, his first in public since he ordered a warplane to intercept a Ryanair flight between EU members Greece and Lithuania, he showed no hint of backing down from confrontation with countries that accuse him of air piracy.

“As we predicted, our illwishers from outside the country and from inside the country changed their methods of attack on the state,” Lukashenko, 66, told parliament. “They have crossed many red lines and have abandoned common sense and human morals.”

Belarus has already been subject to EU and US sanctions since Lukashenko cracked down on pro-democracy protests after a disputed election last year.

The journalist, Roman Protasevich, whose social media feed from exile had been one of the last remaining independent sources of news about Belarus, was shown on state TV on Monday confessing to organising demonstrations. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the footage “distressing” and Belarus opposition figures said it was proof he had been tortured. Late on Tuesday, state TV broadcast a similar confession video of Sophia Sapega, a 23-year-old student arrested with Protasevich.

Russia backs Lukashenko

The Kremlin said there was no reason to doubt statements made by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko. “The Kremlin sees no reason not to trust statements from the leadership of Belarus,” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, shortly after Russia’s ally Lukashenko addressed lawmakers in Minsk.