Ukraine should not have returned Belavia flight - Belarus aviation official

Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) has explained why they ordered the Minsk-bound Belavia flight to return to the Kyiv airport Zuliany. "We asked the plane to return because we had justified suspicions. This is national security-related. This is normal international practice," said SBU spokeswoman Olena Gitlyanskaya in an interview with Apostraf.

Gilyanskaya wrote earlier that SBU had information about a foreign national who was potentially a threat to Ukraine's national security. "By the time we received this information, the foreigner had already been on board the Belavia plane preparing to take off to Minsk," added Ukraine's SBU spokesperson.

Officials at Belarus Aviation Department do not consider this situation normal.

"They should have detained this man during check-in and boarding instead of ordering the place to return," Yury Kastsiukevich, head of aviation safety unit at Aviation Department told Euroradio. "The airline has suffered losses. The crew and passangers also had moral damages."

Kastsiukevich would not elaborate if his agency would take part in the resolution of this conflict with Ukraine.

"I can only say one thing for now: in accordance with the ICAO Convention, our crew acted rightfully. The captain executed commands from the air controller and landed the plane at the Kyiv airport," Kastsiukevich told Euroradio.