Belarusian Air Carrier Deemed Guilty by Association
The United States Department of the Treasury has levied additional wartime sanctions against the Eastern European nation of Belarus, to include measures directed against Belarusian state-owned air-carrier Belavia Airlines and one of its CRJ-200ER regional aircraft.
Headquartered in the Belarusian capital city of Minsk, Belavia remains banned from the E.U., U.K., Switzerland, and Ukraine on account of the Ryanair Flight 4978 incident—a 2021 travesty in which a Boeing 737-8AS operated by Ryanair Polish subsidiary Buzz, was diverted, while traversing Belarusian airspace, to Minsk by order of the Belarusian government. Upon landing at Minsk National Airport (MSQ), Belarusian blogger and political activist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend, Sofia Sapega, were arrested by authorities. The aircraft, its crew, and the remainder of its passengers were detained for seven hours before being permitted to continue on to the flight’s filed destination of Vilnius, Lithuania.
In addition to Belavia Airlines and CRJ-200ER registration EW-301PJ, U.S. federal officials have sanctioned the Open Joint Stock Company Minsk Civil Aviation Plant 407, and other Belarusian companies and high-profile individuals.
The sanctions were levied in response to the Belarusian government’s steadfast support of Moscow’s ongoing military action against Ukraine and are intended to contemporaneously disrupt a major Belarusian revenue source and impugn Belavia’s involvement in transporting family members of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and other individuals considered persona non grata by Washington D.C.
The new sanctions broaden previous U.S. proclamations calling for the prohibition of ticket sales to and from the United States. The Treasury Department sets forth the measures reflect the agency’s (ironic) disapprobation of Belavia having allegedly prevailed upon its employees to refrain from protesting against fraudulent elections.
Washington’s objection to CRJ EW-301PJ derives of the aircraft’s ostensible role in transporting prominent Belarusian figures—to include members of President Lukashenko’s family.
Washington’s vendetta against the Lukashenko clan extends to businessman Aleksey Oleksin and his family, who allegedly have blood-ties to the Lukashenkos.
Also sanctioned were the Belarusian Metallurgical Plant, the Department of Financial Investigations of the State Control Committee of the Republic of Belarus, and the Minsk Civil Aviation Plant. The latter facility is looked upon by the Biden administration as a key facet of Belarus’s aerospace industry and a determinative factor in the country’s ability to produce civil and military aircraft. The plant has remained a cardinal producer of aircraft and aircraft components throughout the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.
U.S. Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism & Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson set forth: “Today’s actions disrupt the state-owned enterprises and key government officials the authoritarian Lukashenka regime relies on to generate substantial revenue to support its fiercely undemocratic and repressive policies.”
Nelson continued: “In line with our partners and Allies, we will continue to ensure that the regime pays a price for its abysmal treatment of its own citizens and that our measures in response to Russia’s aggression cannot be circumvented through Belarus.”
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