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Lukashenko says Protasevich not opposition figure but Belarusian intelligence officer

31 October 2025 22:37 (UTC +04:00)

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko revealed that Roman Protasevich, considered an opposition figure, is in fact a Belarusian intelligence officer, APA reports.

"I won't go into detail. Protasevich is an agent of our intelligence service," the BelTA news agency quoted him as saying.

According to the Belarusian president, Protasevich posed as a representative of the "fugitive" Belarusian opposition. Before his "detention" at Minsk Airport, where his plane landed due to a bomb threat, Protasevich was on a mission from Greece.

"They turned around and flew to Minsk. They landed in Minsk. I said: ‘Well, carry out the operation properly, he was working undercover for these fugitives. Conduct the operation correctly,’" Lukashenko said.

In Greece, he added, Protasevich met with intelligence service representatives. "He was summoned there. He provided everything we were interested in to the intelligence officers. Then, he received his assignment and flew back. He flew back to where he worked via Vilnius," he added.

Lukashenko recalled that the incident involving the plane and Protasevich's detention led to sanctions being imposed on the country: "We were accused of detaining an opposition figure. But he is not actually our opposition figure. We did not detain an opposition figure."