In its report on Ryanair flight FR4978, the civil aviation organization ICAO concludes that the forced landing in Minsk in May 2021 was an unlawful intervention by the Belarusian government. The representative of the Russian Federation protested against the report.

ICAO said that after examining new material, including audio recordings, it concluded that the alleged bomb threat was intentionally false and was sent to the Buzz crew on instructions from Belarusian government officials.

In May last year, the Polish airline Buzz operated a flight from Athens to Vilnius on behalf of Ryanair. In the airspace of Belarus, the crew was confronted by air traffic control with an alleged bomb threat and also with the help of a fighter jet forced to land in Minsk. There were about 100 passengers on board, including opposition blogger Roman Protasevich and his then-girlfriend Sofia Sapega. The two were arrested immediately after landing.

Belarus still denies that Buzz's Boeing 737-800 was forced to make an emergency landing in Minsk. They insist that there was a bomb threat. In its report, ICAO takes the view that air traffic control was deliberately given incorrect information that was passed on to the crew.

Following this incident, the European Union and other territories have imposed sanctions on Belarus. Among other things, Belarusian carriers are still prohibited from using the Lto use the EU's air space. This led to itthat Belavia had to discontinue all flights to Western Europe.

The Russian UN representative did not agree at all with the investigation report. The latter lodged a verbal protest and also stated that the allegations against Belarus should be "resolutely rejected".