Russia rejects claims of involvement in Ryanair incident

Moscow,  The Russian Foreign Ministry has rejected “baseless and false” western speculations on Moscow’s alleged involvement in the Ryanair flight diversion incident, adding that no Russian citizens left the aircraft after the emergency landing in Minsk.

Despite the fact that only three days have passed since the landing and with no available results in relation to the investigation in the case, Western officials have quickly and “unanimously” drawn conclusions, Xinhua news agency quoted Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova as saying on Wednesday.

“We drew attention to how our Western partners addressed this situation in the context of some kind of Russian linkage,” Zakharova said during her weekly briefing.

She reiterated that Moscow is only interested in conducting an “objective” and “thorough” investigation into the case rather than forming theories that the West calls “highly likely” without analysing all available data.

Zakharova refuted statements that four Russian citizens had reportedly left the plane when it landed in Minsk.

“No, four Russian citizens did not leave the plane. All explanations have already been provided in relation to this,” she said.

The Irish airline Ryanair said that flight FR4978 from Athens to Vilnius was directed to an airport in Minsk on Sunday as crew on the plane had been alerted to a possible security threat by the Belarusian authorities, adding that nothing untoward was found.

Leaders of the European Union member states on Monday agreed to cut the bloc’s air links with Belarus following the incident.