“This was a case of state-sponsored hijacking,

” Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline, told RTE Radio. O’Leary said a total of five people failed to re-board the plane in Minsk, for Vilnius. They were: the journalist, Roman Protasevich, aged 26; his girfriend, Sophia Sapega, a 23-year-old Russian who studies in Vilnius; and three unidentified men. O’Leary said he suspects the three men were Belarussian or Russian agents who boarded the plane in Athens to supervise the hijacking. He said: “We believe there was also some KGB agents offloaded off the aircraft as well.”