A business jet used by top Belarusian officials and family members of the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has landed in Turkey, Ukrainian and Belarusian media outlets reported on Saturday, amid a mutiny by Wagner mercenaries in neighboring Russia.
It is not known if the Belarusian president was on the plane. The plane is also reportedly used by his sons.
The Belarusian Reform.by news outlet cited data on the plane’s flight path from the Radarbox service, which tracks flights.
The Canadair CL-600−2B19 Challenger 850, tail number EW-301PJ, reportedly took off from Minsk at 00:01 local time on Saturday and landed in the resort town of Bodrum on the Mediterranean coast at 05:15, having made a big “detour.”
According to the map, the plane tried to bypass the Russian cities of Krasnodar and Stavropol Krais, flew over the Caspian Sea and then reached the Turkish resort via Georgia.
Belarusian state media also report that Lukashenko had a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to the media, Putin called Lukashenko and informed him about the situation in Russia.
Lukashenko, who allowed Russian troops to use Belarusian territory as a launchpad for their Ukraine offensive, has remained Putin’s closest ally.