The Saga of Ryanair Flight 4978

<p>Last week, when the pilots on a commercial flight headed for Lithuania told passengers they were about to make an unexpected landing in the Belarusian capital of Minsk many were confused — except Roman Protasevich.</p><p>The 26-year-old dissident journalist and one Belarus’s biggest enemies sensed what was about to happen.</p><p>How and why did Belarus force down the plane and arrest Mr. Protasevich? And what comes next? </p><p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/anton-troianovski?smid=pc-thedaily">Anton Troianovski</a>, the Moscow bureau chief for The New York Times. </p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/signup/NTTD?smid=pc-thedaily">Sign up here</a> to get The Daily in your inbox each morning. And for an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/the-daily?module=inline">subscribe to our newsletter</a>. </p><p>Background reading: </p><ul><li>The forced landing of a commercial flight on Sunday has put Belarus and its authoritarian leader, Aleksandr Lukashenko, in a new global spotlight.<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/26/world/europe/whats-happening-in-belarus.html"> Here’s what you need to know</a>.</li><li>Disgusted by the brutality of Mr. Lukashenko, Mr. Protasevich<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/25/world/europe/belarus-news-roman-protasevich.html"> bravely embarked at 16</a> on a life in opposition.</li></ul><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily">nytimes.com/thedaily</a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.</p>