Belarusian Leader Pardons Russian Woman Arrested After Forced Plane Landing

Belarus has pardoned Sofia Sapega, the Russian ex-girlfriend of Belarusian dissident journalist Roman Protasevich, who was sentenced to six years in prison in May 2022. Following her pardoning by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Sapega was handed over to a Russian delegation. Sapega and Protasevich were detained in May 2021 when their Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius was forcibly diverted in Minsk, sparking global outcry and new Western sanctions on Minsk. Protasevich was sentenced to eight years in prison on multiple charges, but was pardoned in May 2023.