MINSK, 14 June (BelTA) – There was no interception of the Ryanair aircraft, BelTA learned from Chief of the Air Force and Air Defense Command of the Armed Forces of Belarus, Major-General Igor Golub on 14 June.
Igor Golub said: “Instrumental data convincingly confirms that there was no interception, no coercive U-turn away from the state border, and no forced landing of the Ryanair flight. It has been repeatedly proven and demonstrated to anyone willing to objectively understand the situation. According to the reliable data we have, this fact has also been recognized in confidential reports by my colleagues by occupation in the NATO countries that border on Belarus.”
Igor Golub went on saying: “We've carefully examined the Ryanair aircraft's flight trajectory in Belarus' air space, aerodrome rules, patterns for approaching the Vilnius airport. The lengthy silence of the pilot-in-command (about 12-14 minutes) during a straight-line flight via Belarus' territory from the southern section of the state border to the beginning of the turn is hard to understand as well as his behavior after landing in the Vilnius airport and silence in mass media up till now. We have yet to hear his comment after 23 May and until today except for one statement for a police representative in Vilnius. But this comment has been removed from all sources.”
