The founder of the opposition NEXTA Telegram channel Roman Protasevich was detained at the Minsk airport on Sunday, RIA Novosti reported.

The channel is recognized as "extremist" in the republic. Protasevich was put on the wanted list. The young man flew Ryanair flight Athens - Vilnius. It is clarified that after checking the plane in Minsk, the passengers were sent for a second check of documents, then Roman was detained.

The plane urgently landed in Minsk after the message about mining, which was not confirmed. According to media reports, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko personally gave the command to take the plane to Minsk.